


Born of Sacred Fire

by Wishmaker1028



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Colosseum & XD
Genre: All Pokemon present, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-07 21:04:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 34,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15916206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wishmaker1028/pseuds/Wishmaker1028
Summary: AU, post Sinnoh. Nine years ago, Team Rocket's plan to rule the world started. Now, in the present day, it has just become a real threat to everyone. Old friends return, new friends arise, and Misty comes back! Can they save the world from Team Rocket or will the world burn? Please read and review! -And always think outside of the box!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Summary: In this rather dark alternate universe story tells the tale of - not only what happened to Ash's father - but how far Team Rocket will go to take over the world. A side note, the character Erika is loosely based off of Leaf in the manga and in the games. But she is her own character, created by me. Moving on and stopping my ranting! Time for the story!

_Nine years ago_

A little anxious boy running around his house, beyond excited. Today was the day his father would return home. The little boy was about eight years old, had black messy hair, brown eyes, freckles that were in the shape of a z, wearing a short sleeved orange shirt with a red stripe, red shorts, and barefooted. A woman came and saw her son running around. She had auburn hair, brown eyes, wearing a long sleeved pink sweater, a yellow undershirt, a blue skirt, and had house shoes on.

Delia scolded, "Ashton Satoshi Ketchum, stop running around and get your shoes on!"

Ash complained, "But why? I like running around barefooted!"

Delia was about to protest when there was a knock on the door. She answered it and standing there were two eight year old kids, one was a boy and the other was a girl. The boy had short auburn hair, green eyes, wearing a short sleeved purple shirt, blue jeans, and brown boots. The girl had long brown hair, blue eyes, wearing a short sleeved sky blue shirt, a red skirt, and yellow shoes. They were Gary Oak and Erika Jones.

Delia gushed, "Gary, Erika! Good to see you two!"

Gary muttered, "Whatever..."

Erika rolled her eyes in annoyance as she pointed out, "That's rude, Gary." She turned to Delia and asked, "Can Ash come out and play, Mrs. Ketchum?"

Delia was about to ask Ash but he came over when he heard Erika's name mentioned. Erika and Ash were best friends, almost like siblings.

Ash answered, "Sorry, Erika. I can't. My Dad is coming home today!"

Erika perked up and asked, "Wait, he is?"

Gary snuffed, "Must've lost at the Pokémon league. Typical Ketchum and you are gonna be just like him, Ash-y boy."

Ash hissed, stomping his foot, "Stop calling me Ash-y boy!"

Erika decided to change the subject before it got ugly, "Did he win at the Pokémon League?"

Delia smiled as she nodded simply. Ash's eyes widen at this as did Gary's.

Both boys blurted out, in surprise, "He did?!"

Delia responded, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Ash, but he wanted to surprise you."

Ash gushed, "This is the best day ever! Dad is a Pokémon Master!"

Erika added, "And we get to try to be Pokémon Masters ourselves in two years!"

Gary snuffed again, "You two won't stand a chance against me because I'm gonna be a master first."

Ash made a fist as he determined, "We'll see about that!"

Erika groaned as Delia giggled.

She asked the older woman, "Are all boys like this Mrs. Ketchum?"

Delia giggled, "I'm afraid so, sweetie. All boys are like this."

Erika vowed, "I am never gonna talk to a boy after I leave."

Delia laughed more as Ash asked her, "Wait, does that mean that you won't talk to me?"

Erika reassured, "You'll be the only exception."

Gary asked, "And me?"

Erika deadpanned, "Like I said, Ash will be the only exception."

Gary pouted. Both Delia and Ash busted up laughing at this. Gary stood there and took it, rolling his eyes at most of it. Erika eventually started to laugh, joining Ash and Delia.

Sooner or later, Gary also gave in and started to laugh as well. And for those moments, everything was right with the world and nothing could go wrong.

...

_Present Day_

A sixteen year old Ash Ketchum thought, _'Funny how time can change so much.'_ He had just lost against Tobias in the Sinnoh League Conference and was at the Pokémon Center, healing his team. Losing again 6-2, Ash was really thinking about everything starting from the very beginning. Gary had changed so, becoming a Pokémon researcher. Erika hadn't changed, she was chasing her dream with her Bulbasaur - which was now a Venasaur. Recently, Ash had gotten a postcard from her, saying she was in the Johto region. She went to Hoenn after the Indigo League. Erika had placed Top Eighteen in the Indigo League, much like Ash. But she had done better in Hoenn, making the semi-finals and losing. Currently in Johto, she was battling against Clair to get her eighth badge. She was pacing herself, giving herself some decent time with her family back in Pallet.

Erika wrote him once, _'They got to know I'm okay, even if that means slowing down and going home.'_ Ash was doing the same for his mom and for Misty, who he missed terribly. Misty Kasumi Waterflower was Ash's best friend and first human friend he met on his journey. He blushed whenever he thought of her.

A female voice brought him out of his thoughts and asked, "Ash Ketchum?"

Ash looked up and saw a sixteen year old girl standing there. She had long brown hair, green eyes, wearing a silver locket, a purple shirt, white jeans, white and purple shoes, a white pouch around her waist, and a purple backpack on her back.

Ash answered, "Yeah, you must be Ranee Katina, Tobias last opponent before he faced me."

Ranee confirmed, "Yeah, I got Top Eight before Darkrai creamed us. I wanted to see how you and your team were doing after your match."

Ash smiled softly and replied, "Wish I was doing better."

Ranee sat down next to him as they started to talk. Ash learned all about her as they waited for his Pokémon. They laughed, they cried, and they even shared pictures. Ash couldn't believe that he made a friend that fast. Ranee was really friendly and kind. He still couldn't believe that she knew Paul and grew up with him in Veilstone City.

Ash couldn't help but ask, "Wasn't that hard for you the way he is and everything?"

Ranee softly answered, "You would be surprised on the difference between then and now. It's funny how time can change so much."

At that moment, Pikachu came running over to him.

"Pika pi!" Pikachu said.

Ash gushed, opening his arms, "Pikachu!"

Pikachu jumped into them as Ranee smiled at the sight. She thought, _'Just like Infernape and me.'_ Pikachu looked over at Ranee and then at Ash, confused.

"Pika pi, pika pika chu?" Pikachu asked, pointing at Ranee.

Ash smiled and answered, "Pikachu, this is a new friend of mine from Veilstone City, Ranee Katina."

Ranee petted Pikachu and greeted, "Pleased to meet you."

"Cha..." Pikachu said.

Ash smiled more as Dawn and Brock came over. Ash was glad to see his friends as he introduced them to Ranee. Dawn was glad to meet another coordinator but all were unaware of the danger that would soon befall them all...

...

_Kanto Region_

Giovanni was looking at his reports from over the months from Jessie and James, who were currently in the Sinnoh region. Quite frankly, he wasn't interested in those constant failures but the file that he had pulled out about Ash Ketchum was getting him interested. Not only was he the _"Chosen One"_ and related to Sir Aaron but he had seen mostly every legendary from Ho-oh to Arceus. Giovanni was impressed, he even looked over the records that Ash had made. Top Eighteen in the Pokémon League, won in the Orange Island League, Top Eight in the Johto and Hoenn League, and Top Four in Sinnoh League. He even won all 7 symbols in the Kanto Battle Frontier but declined to be a Battle Frontier Brain. He had many friends: Misty Waterflower from Cerulean City who was now the Cerulean City Gym Leader and Brock Slate from Pewter City who was now a Pokémon Breeder and currently traveling with Ash.

There was also May Maple from Petalburg City who was now traveling around in Johto region to become Top Coordinator, Max Maple from Petalburg City who was studying Pokémon to become a Pokémon trainer, and Dawn Hikari from Twinleaf Town who was currently traveling with Ash to become a Top Coordinator. The leader of Team Rocket also saw that he had many rivals as well. Richie Hiroshi from the Kanto region, Gary Oak from Pallet Town who was now studying Pokémon as a researcher, Erika Jones from Pallet Town who was travelling in the Johto region, Harrison Hazuki from Littleroot Town, Morrison Masamune from Verdanturf Town, Nando Naoshi from the Sinnoh region. There was also Paul Shinji from Veilstone City, Ranee Katina from Veilstone City, Barry Jun from Twinleaf Town, Tobias Takuto from the Sinnoh region, and Tyson Tetsuya from Mauville City. Giovanni had to admit that the record was impressive enough.

He even checked on the records of the others and was impressed even more on how impressive each trainer was. Each of them were strong in a different way. The leader of Team Rocket saw why Jessie and James wanted to take the boys' Pikachu. Anyways, Giovanni went downstairs to the lab, where Dr. Zeger was working.

He calmly asked, "How is Project Shadow coming?"

Zeger answered, "Just fine, those efforts made by the G-Men and the ex-Pokémon Master didn't slow it down nine years ago."

Giovanni smiled evilly and stated, "Good, in less than two weeks, we will have the most powerful army in the world. No one can stop us. Not even the G-Men or this Ash Ketchum."

Zeger perked up at the last name and asked, "Ketchum as in David Ketchum?"

Giovanni answered, coldly, "Apparently, he had a son before his untimely demise. Such a shame too that he can't even see what his Raichu is about to do for us and our plans."

Zeger looked back at the very large test tube and in it was an old Raichu who was unconscious. It looked very hurt and it was oblivious that a lot of tests were done on it.

Zeger smirked evilly and stated, "You know the old saying, Giovanni. The dead don't walk..."

...

_Wishmaker1028: Okay guys, that about wraps up the start of this new story. Might be slow moving story but it soon pick up, just give it time. I also want to say this is story doesn't interact with my Pokémon stories at all, in fact, it is following the anime-ish. So please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Sinnoh Region_

Paul Shinji just woke up from a restful night's sleep, mostly from dreaming about his girlfriend Ranee Katina. He wanted to kiss her, hug her, and cuddle her so badly. But so much had changed since they both left Veilstone City about nine years ago. Paul started with Turtwig and went with Reggie during his Kanto Battle Frontier challenge. Of course, Paul saw that Reggie lost and vowed revenge for him. Ranee, however, started with Chimchar. She went to Johto to start her journey to become - not only a Pokémon Master - but Top Coordinator as well. That's why he liked contests mostly was because of her. Paul rubbed his eyes and stretched, he was actually at the Pokémon Center from his recent battle. He decided that some rest and relaxation were in order. Well, before he headed home to his brother. Paul was praying to Arceus that Ranee was there or on her way. The mauve haired trainer gathered his things and got his Pokémon back from Nurse Joy.

She told him, "You're Pokémon had a restful night's sleep and are ready to go."

Paul replied, in his usual demur, "Thanks very much."

Paul took his Pokeballs and headed out. The minute he got outside, he noticed all of the dark clouds in the sky. Paul thought, _'Looks like rain,'_ as he shoved his hands in his pockets and headed on his way. Going from town-to-town alone was boring but it was much faster. Just then, the mauve haired trainer came across a Pokémon battle. It was Barry (at least that's what Paul thought his name was) and Conway. Barry was using Empoleon and Conway was using Heracross.

Barry commanded, "Empoleon, Drill Peck!"

Conway countered, "Heracross, Aerial Ace!"

Heracross was fast but Empoleon was faster. Drill Peck hit first as Heracross went down first. Paul reasoned that the battle was longer before he got there. Barry was psyched.

Barry gushed, "Awesome job Empoleon!"

"Empoleon." Empoleon said.

Conway merely returned Heracross, said nothing, and left.

Paul went over to Barry and commented, "Either he's pathetic or you are getting stronger."

Barry turned around as Paul and replied, "Well, of course I'm getting stronger. I want to become the greatest Pokémon Master."

Paul pointed out, "You have competition, you know."

Barry nodded and responded, "Yeah and that's the best part. You can get stronger by challenging others!"

Paul shrugged, "That is true."

Barry challenged, "So, wanna battle?"

Paul answered, "Sure, why not."

Barry stated, hyper, "Awesome!"

Paul warned him, "But we'll make this one-on-one, alright."

Barry replied, "That's fine!" He turned to Empoleon and asked, "You up for another battle?"

"Empol!" Empoleon said as it stood strong and ready.

Paul took a poke ball and threw it.

He yelled, "Torterra, stand by for battle!"

With a flash of light, the Content Pokémon appeared.

"Terra!" Torterra said.

Barry was stoked now. He was really looking forward to battling Paul again.

...

_Nine years ago_

David Ketchum was still in shock. Lance had just told him that he had become the Pokémon Master. David had messy shoulder length black hair, brown eyes, wearing a blue shirt, black jeans, blue shoes, and a blue hat on top of his head with a black Pokeball print on it. His partner and long time friend, Raichu, was perched on his right shoulder. Lance smiled at David, he had only known him for a short time but he knew that he was going to be a great Pokémon Master. Before Lance had a chance to induct David into the Hall of Fame, someone ran into the room. It was Andrew Oak, Professor Oak's son. Andrew Oak was the spitting image of Gary but a bit older.

Lance saw his face as he asked, concerned, "Andrew, what's the matter?"

Andrew caught his breath and answered, "Team Rocket is at it again. They are in Vermillion City stealing Pokémon."

David frowned, "In the middle of the day, doesn't sound right..." He declared, "We better go check it out."

Lance started to reply, "I agree but we have to go through the required paperwork..."

Andrew complained, "Paperwork can wait Lance! We have to stop them now!"

David responded, "He has a point. Just let me make a quick phone call to my family."

Andrew tossed him a PokeNav. David opened it, dialed, and the call went through. On the other side, Erika answered it, since Delia was in the kitchen.

She asked, _"Hello? Ketchum residents, Erika Jones speaking."_

David stated, "Erika, its Mr. Ketchum." He paused and asked, "May I speak to Mrs. Ketchum?"

Erika told him, _"She's in the kitchen."_ She noticed his tone and asked, concerned, _"Is something wrong?"_

David sighed as he knew that the young Jones girl was mature for her age. He could tell her. Besides, this situation sounded like it couldn't wait.

He explained, "Team Rocket is in Vermillion City stealing Pokémon. Mr. Oak and I are going to check it out and stop them."

Erika paled as she replied, _"Alright, I'll let Mrs. Ketchum know. Be careful Mr. Ketchum."_

David commented, "I will and tell my family I love them."

With that, David hung up and left. Back in Pallet Town, Delia came over to Erika.

Delia asked, "Who was that, Erika?"

Erika answered, "That was Mr. Ketchum. He said that Team Rocket is in Vermillion City stealing Pokémon. He and Mr. Oak are going to go check it out and stop them. He said that he loved you all."

Delia softly smiled as she knew that things were going to be okay. She trusted her husband.

Gary pouted, "Aw great, that means my Dad is gonna be delayed. What a Ketchum."

Ash hissed, "Take that back, Oak! At least my Dad became a Pokémon Master!"

Gary huffed, "Yeah, out of luck."

Delia broke them up as Ash vowed, "Just wait, one day I will show that I am just as good as my Dad and a Pokémon Master just like him."

With that, he ran upstairs.

Delia sighed, "You two better run along while I talk to Ash."

Gary huffed, "Just like a Ketchum."

Erika told Mrs. Ketchum, "Tell Ash I'll be back later once he's calmed down."

Delia nodded and with that, Erika headed out to catch up with Gary. She caught up to him as he stuck out his tongue at her. Erika rolled her eyes and thought, annoyed, _'Oh real mature, Gary.'_

...

_Present Day, Johto Region_

Erika looked upon those memories, still annoyed at the way Gary acted back then. But the way he matured, she was crushing on him badly. Erika blushed for there was absolutely no way she was crushing on her lifelong best friend. She had known Gary as long as Ash and yet she didn't develop any feelings for Ash.

Claire came over to her and asked, "Is something wrong Erika?"

Erika simply answered, "Just thinking about an old friend of mine, Claire."

She finally got the Rising Badge and now qualified to compete in the Silver League Conference, which was three months away.

Claire questioned, "An old friend?"

Erika nodded and answered, "Yeah but I don't think I'm gonna impress him looking like this." Hearing what she said, Erika blushed heavily as she started to deny, "I mean..."

Claire smiled and asked, "You have a crush on this old friend, don't you?"

Erika denied, "N - no."

To this, Claire smiled more as she teased, "Sure you don't..."

Erika lied, "I have to go shopping."

With that, she ran out of there as fast as she could. There was just no way in the Distortion World that she like Gary Oak as more than a friend. Although, she did have to go shopping. Her outfit was a bit outdated and she needed a change. Grabbing one of her Pokeballs, she threw it and her Altaria appeared. Altaria landed next to her and softly hummed.

Erika politely asked, "Altaria, can you fly me to Goldenrod City?"

Altaria nodded as it turned around to allow her to get on. Erika hoped on Altaria's back and the two of them took off into the skies. Erika never felt so alive when she flew with Altaria, even though she noticed the rain clouds. She couldn't help but wonder how long it was going to be an overcast or when it was going to rain. She shrugged it off as Altaria arrived at Goldenrod City.

Erika jumped off and gushed, "Thanks Altaria, return!"

With a flash of light, Altaria was recalled back to its Pokeball.

A female voice asked, "Erika?"

Erika spun around and saw Whitney, the Goldenrod City Gym Leader.

Erika waved, "Oh hey Whitney."

Whitney asked, "What are you doing here?"

Erika explained, "I wanted to go shopping. This outfit is a bit outdated."

Whitney studied her and agreed, "Sure is."

Erika questioned, "Can you help me get a new outfit?

Whitney smiled and answered, "Sure, its my day off anyhow!"

Erika was happy as the Goldenrod Gym Leader laughed as the two girls started to shop around in the Goldenrod Mall. Whitney saw a green blouse with quarter inch sleeves and sky blue sparkles on it, perfect to show off Erika's cleavage.

Erika commented, "This is beautiful..."

Whitney agreed, "It's perfect!"

Erika saw a short brown jean skirt and black nylons. Whitney also found white shoes and a sky blue headband and on it was a green Pokeball pattern.

Erika gushed, "This outfit is perfect." She paid for the outfit as the two headed out. Erika stated, "Thank you, Whitney."

Whitney winked, "It was my pleasure and now you can knock Gary Oak off of his feet."

Erika blushed and hissed, "I don't have a crush on Gary Oak!"

...

_Wishmaker1028: Well, that's the end of chapter 2! I hope everyone likes the redesign of my original character Erika (if you were paying attention, kudos). I wanted her to look less like Leaf/Blue/Green, whomever she looks like and become a true original character. I have two other new designs in mind...one for my original character Ranee and one for Misty. There is going to be multiple pairings in this: Pokeshipping, Contestshipping, Penguinshipping, Locketshipping, Oldrivalshipping (Gary/Erika), and Tagteamshipping (Brock/Holly). I seriously need to stop ranting! Forgive that guys! Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Kanto Region_

Misty Kasumi Waterflower was impressed on how well her boyfriend did in the Sinnoh League. She couldn't wait to see him again and she hoped that he brought Brock with him. It had been so long since she had seen Brock and she really wanted to meet Dawn too. Misty thought, _'Maybe I can ask Daisy if I can go to Sinnoh for a bit.'_ She shook her head and thought, _'No way, I'm lucky she let me go to the Togepi Festival which turned out to be a trap set up by Team Rocket to get Togepi and help Colonel Hansen.'_ Azurill came over her trainer and looked up.

"Azu?" Azurill asked.

Misty smiled at her little baby Pokémon and explained, "Just thinking about Ash and Brock."

Misty scooped Azurill in her arms and held the Polka Dot Pokémon close to her. Azurill was nice and squishy. Misty had to admit that she missed holding something. Togepi was the first and had a special spot in her heart. Daisy saw this from afar and knew that she had to do something. So she headed out for the Cerulean City Mall to get a new outfit for her baby sister. Later on that day, Misty was swimming alongside of her Psyduck. With Ash's help, Psyduck learned not to be afraid of the water. Misty was helping out with the rest of the training. Daisy came back to the gym with a whole bunch of bags.

Misty perked up and asked, "What's with all of the bags, Daisy?"

Daisy answered, "Like, open them and find out!"

Misty, knowing that it wasn't her birthday, was getting curious. She opened the bags and in the first bag was a blue jacket that went with a one piece blue swimsuit. With that were dark blue shorts, light blue sandals, and a sky blue backpack. Misty couldn't believe it. Ever since her hair grew out to a beautiful shoulder length, her cerulean eyes weren't as pretty as they usually were. But she couldn't help but wonder...

Misty asked, "Daisy, why are you giving me all of these things?"

Daisy answered, "Well, I knew that you were, like, depressed. So I knew that this could help!"

That's when she handed Misty a boat ticket to Lake Valor, Sinnoh. Misty gasped as she took it in her hand and trembled. That's when someone came into the gym. And that someone was in the form of Erika Jones, fresh from the Johto region and wearing her new outfit.

Erika asked, "You called me, Daisy?"

Daisy nodded as she introduced Misty to Erika and then vice versa. The two exchanged a handshake.

Daisy questioned, "You are, like, still training for the Johto League?"

Erika nodded and answered, "Yeah, I was hoping to train in the Sinnoh region for a bit."

Daisy asked, "Well, like, you up for going with my baby sister?"

Erika smiled as she saw Misty's surprised face and she answered, "Of course, it will be great to get to know the baby sister of the Waterflower family. Plus, Ash will love seeing her and me after all of these years."

Misty got jealous and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Erika giggled as she explained, "Fiery, just as Ash described you. You see, Misty, I'm from Pallet Town. Ash is a brother to me."

Misty questioned, "So you are the other trainer from Pallet?"

Erika answered, "Right. I started with Bulbasaur and went to the Hoenn region first before returning to my hometown. The other trainer - named Silver - started with Charmander but kept to himself as a trainer, like he did when he was a kid. Gary, as you know, started with Squirtle and went through the Kanto region first. Ash, being late for getting his Pokémon, got Pikachu. And you know the rest of the tale from there."

Misty joked, "Boy do I ever."

Erika turned to Misty and asked, "Hey Misty, are you up for a battle?"

...

_Nine years ago_

Silver was an interesting sort. He was rather shy unlike the rest of the Pallet Town kids. Silver peeked out of the window and saw that Gary was walking by. The red headed boy rolled his eyes. There was one kid that he didn't want to get to know. Silver had short red hair, silver eyes, wearing a black jacket, blue jeans, and yellow shoes. He wasn't a typical playful nine year old, quite the opposite. He was rather closed in and quiet. Anyways, there was one person that Silver really wanted to know much better. And that person was Erika Jones, who was still right behind Gary. Silver blushed as he went outside.

Erika stated, "You know, you didn't have to be so rude back there to Ash, you know."

Gary rolled his eyes and said nothing. Erika was the next to roll her eyes, getting really annoyed with him at the moment. That's when she saw Silver.

Erika approached him, trying to be friendly, "Hey, aren't you Silver?" Silver nodded shyly as he gave her a wild flower. Erika smiled as she took it. She teased to Gary, "See, he can be nice, why can't you be?"

Gary rolled his eyes and replied, "Very funny, Erika."

Silver was looking down at his shoes, still being rather shy.

Erika noticed this as she asked, "Something wrong?"

Silver didn't answer but pressed his lips up against Erika's cheek, his face red with a blush. Gary instantly got jealous as Erika was too stunned to move.

She breathed, creeped out, "He kissed my cheek..."

Silver was still blushing, unashamed of his recent job. Gary made a fist, stepping in front of Erika, making her blush.

Gary stated, "Listen and listen only once. You kiss her cheek or come near her again without permission, you are going to regret meeting me, Gary Oak."

Erika, by this time, was really blushing and was frozen there. She couldn't believe that Gary was defending her like that. Erika was rather impressed as Silver started to cry, pushing Gary down to the ground. Gary landed softly and was unhurt. Silver grabbed Erika's wrist and started to pull her to his house.

Erika shouted, "Hey! Let me go!"

Gary bolted to his feet as he grabbed Erika and brought her close. Erika blushed and Silver went back into his house - crying and heartbroken. Erika looked at Gary. Ever since her older brother died in the Orre region when she was seven, she had actually shut off everyone and didn't fully return to her friends until three weeks after the event. Gary and Ash were always there for her but more Gary than Ash - since Gary lived right next door to Erika and her folks.

Gary looked at her and asked, "You okay?"

Erika was about to answer when they heard a sound.

...

_Present Day, Sinnoh Region_

Empoleon went down in a heap as Torterra took the win.

Paul simply stated, "Looks like we one."

Barry recalled his starter Pokémon and replied, "Wow Paul, I got to admit that you got even stronger."

Paul responded, "Thanks." That's when he decided to ask, "Listen, have you met or ran into a girl named Ranee?"

Barry thought for a moment and then answered, "That girl who also to Tobias...yeah, I saw her. She's going to Lake Valor with Ash and the guys!"

Paul raised an eyebrow and questioned, "What for?"

Barry answered, as if it was obvious, "Whoa, you don't know? They are going to meet up with Misty Waterflower there and partake in the Pokémon Contest."

Paul repeated, "A contest, huh?"

Barry nodded and answered, "Yeah, the annual Water Festival. It is a big Pokémon contest that doesn't count but it is a lot of fun."

Paul muttered, "Not that much into fun anymore. I just want my girlfriend back..."

Barry perked up, surprised, "Girlfriend?!"

Paul explained, "Ranee is my girlfriend ever since I left Veilstone City. She's a strong trainer and coordinator."

Barry compared, "Like Nando."

To this, Paul nodded again. Barry was surprised to say the least. He wasn't expecting that at all.

Paul grumbled, "I need to get her back..."

Barry blinked in confusion, "Whoa, what do you mean?"

Paul perked up when he remembered that Barry was there. Paul sighed as he knew that there wasn't much he could do to avoid this anymore.

Paul answered, "Barry, I pushed Ranee away a long time ago."

Barry asked, "What do you mean exactly?"

Paul explained, "My homelife wasn't always just my brother and I."

Barry stated, "Well, then if you can fill in the blanks, maybe I can help."

Paul perked up and asked, "Why would you help me? I mean my family story is not what you think it might be."

Barry made a fist and stated, "That can't be true! You are Paul Shinji from Veilstone City! And Reggie is your older brother!"

Paul started to say, "Yes but..."

Barry interrupted, "Besides, regardless of whatever happened, it made you strong! You were in the Top Four of all your competitions and leagues you ever partake in!"

Paul started to say, "Listen..."

Barry added, "And you always rock hard core on all of the battles you are in with the strongest Pokémon I've ever seen! You are awesome and amazing!"

Paul tried, "Barry..."

Barry started to say, "There is no way..."

Paul shouted, "Barry!"

Barry snapped out of it and looked at Paul, a bit bewildered that the mauve trainer actually shouted his name like that. But it did get his attention.

Barry stomped his feet, "Hey, I'm gonna have to fine you for that!"

Paul questioned, "Do you really think of me like that?"

The blonde haired trainer explained, "Well, yeah. You are awesome and my idol."

Paul modestly stated, "You don't want to idol me."

Barry huffed, "Wait why not?! You have five seconds to explain or you are getting a fine!"

Barry started to count and when he got to four, Paul was beyond annoyed.

Paul blurted out, "Alright, I'll tell you!"

Barry smirked as Paul realized that he was tricked. Paul thought, impressed, _'Barry is pretty clever.'_ And that's when he started to tell the story.

...

_Wishmaker1028: Well, what does everyone think of this chapter? Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


	4. Chapter 4

-Flashback-

_It was the day of the annual Veilstone Festival. There are a bunch of tents and rides there in the middle of town as two nine year old kids entered the square: Paul and Ranee._

_Ranee gushed, "Wow, this festival sure is huge. We're going to have the best day - ever."_

_Paul just smiled. Recently, Paul's father had lost his job and started to abuse his wife and Paul - since Reggie had gone on his Pokémon journey. Paul had a few scrapes, scratches, and bruises. It got so bad that Paul would sneak out to Ranee's. Her parents knew but she didn't._

_He commented, took her hand, "Come on, let's have some fun!"_

_Ranee giggled as she followed. With that; they went on rides, food stands, and the arcades. Awhile later, the two of them go to the photo booth to take some pictures. While Ranee checked out a show, Paul bought a locket especially for her. He placed their favorite picture in the locket. He smiled as he hid it. Finally, it was almost sunset and the two kids knew that they had to go home before their parents came to find them. Paul didn't want his father finding them._

_She honestly told him, "I had the best day."_

_Paul smiled and replied, "Me too." That's when Paul took a deep breath and got out the_ _locket. Ranee gasped as he commented, "I bought this for you."_

_Ranee stated, "It's beautiful..." She looked Paul in the eyes and gushed, "Thank you!"_

_Paul smiled as he put on the locket. The two kids blushed, saying their goodnights. With that, he headed home, not knowing what waited him there. When he got to his house, the door was cracked opened slightly. Paul gulped as he peeked in and saw a terrible sight. His father was in the shadows, holding a bottle in his hand. It was a liquor bottle. He came out, approaching Paul._

_Paul tried to keep a poker face as he asked, "Where is Mom?"_

_His father drunkly admitted, "She left me." He paused as he looked at Paul coldly, "So guess who gets all of my rage?"_

_His father took another sip from his liquor bottle. Paul gulped, backing away from his father in fear. He ran out the door and was about to run to Ranee's house. But he heard his father's footsteps behind him. So he quickly bolted in the opposite direction. As soon as he was about to go into the forest, Paul was jumped by his father and his Tyranitar. Tyranitar was starting to use Hyper Beam on the young nine year old. Paul braced himself, expecting the worst to come. That's when a Raichu - using Volt Tackle - saved Paul from a Hyper Beam. A man came out of the shadows, David Ketchum._

_Paul's father hissed, "Who in the Distortion World are you?"_

_David stood strong and answered, "I am David Ketchum and I recommend that you leave that boy alone."_

_Paul's father hissed, his breath reeking of alcohol, "This ain't your business." He turned to Tyranitar and commanded, "Use Stone Edge!"_

_Tyranitar roared and threw rocks towards Raichu._

_David reacted and commanded, "Dodge and use Iron Tail!"_

_"Rai!" Raichu said._

_Raichu quickly dodged the rocks and hit Tyranitar with the Steel type move. As the battle continued, Paul ran off._

-End of Flashback-

...

_Kanto Region_

In Cerulean City, Misty smiled at Erika's challenge.

Misty accepted, "Sounds good to me."

Erika asked, "Then you up for a one-on-one battle?"

Misty nodded as Daisy questioned, "Then, like, should I referee?"

Erika and Misty both nodded as they got on their sides of the pool. Misty was in the red corner as Erika was in the green corner. Daisy was in the middle, in the referee box.

Daisy commented, "This, like, one-on-one battle between Misty and Erika will now begin! No Pokémon exchanges allowed and the battle will be over with when either sides Pokémon cannot continue. Begin!"

Misty went first and took out a Pokeball.

She threw her Pokeball and yelled, "Misty calls Starmie!"

With a flash of light, the Mysterious Pokémon appeared. The Mysterious Pokémon said nothing. Erika took out a Pokeball and went next.

She yelled, throwing her Pokeball, "To battle Sableye!"

With another flash of light, the Darkness Pokémon appeared.

"Sabl." Sableye said.

Misty went first and commanded, "Starmie, use Ice Beam!"

Starmie fired the freezing beam at the Darkness Pokémon from the its tip.

Erika quickly reacted and commanded, "Dodge it and use Faint Attack!"

Sableye quickly dodge Ice Beam as it snuck up on Starmie and delivered a strong attack.

Misty commanded, "Use Hydro Pump!"

Starmie blasted the water at the Darkness Pokémon, causing a bit of damage.

Erika commented, "You are good, Misty."

Misty stated, "So are you, Erika."

Erika replied, "But not good enough! Sableye, use Shadow Ball!"

Sableye created a ghost energy in its claws and fired it at Starmie.

Misty countered, "Quick, use Water Pulse!"

Starmie fired the powerful water attack. The two attacks clashed and exploded. Both Misty and Erika covered their eyes due to this. Finally, the smoke cleared. Misty and Erika opened their eyes and saw both of their Pokémon down and out.

Daisy commented, "Both Pokémon are unable to battle so this match is, like, a draw!"

Misty was content as was Erika. The red headed gym leader called back her Starmie.

She stated, "You did really well, take a good rest."

The brown haired Pallet Town born trainer called back her Sableye and stated, "Good job, Sableye. Take a good long rest." Erika went over to Misty and said, "Wow, Misty. I thought you had me."

Misty admitted, "And I thought I had you."

She had to admit, Erika was a good.

Daisy stated, "Now, you two better, like, get going. You only have a few days before the Water Festival starts."

Misty nodded as she took Starmie, Psyduck, and Gyarados with her so she could catch some Sinnoh Water types. Erika sent her Manectric, Altaria, and Sableye. She kept Venasaur, Espeon, and Misdreavus.

Erika asked, "Ready?"

Misty was wearing her new outfit and answered, "So ready."

Erika smiled as the two girls went to the port, boarded, and set sail for Lake Valor, Sinnoh. Misty was getting excited. She thought, _'The Water Festival and Ash. I can't wait to get there.'_

...

_Sinnoh Region_

Finally getting to Lake Valor, Dawn and Ranee instantly went shopping for the Water Festival. Ash and Brock went to the Pokémon Center, where Brock started to hit on Nurse Joy - causing Croagunk to use Poison Jab on his trainer and then drag Brock off somewhere.

Ash stated to Croagunk, "I think you'll like Misty when she gets here. She pulls on Brock's ear and drags him away." Croagunk - even though Ash couldn't fully tell - seemed to have smiled more than usual. Ash turned to Nurse Joy and asked, "Nurse Joy, when is the ferry from Cerulean City due to arrive? We want to meet our friends at the port."

Nurse Joy answered, "Let me check for you." With that, she typed on her computer and took a look. She stated, "It'll arrive in two hours, you have a lot of time."

Ash stated, "Thanks so much."

Nurse Joy smiled, "You're welcome."

That's when a familiar male voice asked, "Ash, is that you?"

Ash knew that voice anywhere as he spun around and saw Crasher Wake there. Crasher Wake was the Pastoria City's gym leader. He was a Water type trainer, just like Misty. Although, Misty was a lot less scary.

Ash greeted, "Hey Crasher Wake!"

Crasher Wake chuckled as he stated, "It's great to see you again!" He paused and asked, "Planning to partake in the Water Festival?"

Ash shrugged and answered, "Haven't made up my mind but I was thinking of just letting Dawn and Ranee enter with Misty and Erika."

Wake perked up and questioned, "Erica of the Celadon City gym?"

Ash shook his head as he often got that when he mentioned Erika's name.

Ash explained, "No, my old friend from Pallet Town."

Crasher Wake stated, "Ah, another Kanto trainer."

Ash nodded as he asked, "Wait, you know Misty Waterflower?"

Crasher Wake explained, "I've never met the youngest of the Waterflower's in person but I have heard about them."

Ash nodded as Brock recovered from the poison and joined Ash.

Brock greeted, "Hey, Crasher Wake, it's good to see you."

Crasher Wake replied, "Hello, Brock, good to see you too."

Nurse Joy came over and commented, "Actually, this is the first Water Festival to feature three water type gym leaders."

Ash perked up and asked, "You mean Juan is coming too?"

Crasher Wake nodded and answered, "Yes, all the way from Sootopolis City. I'm quite excited to meet some fellow gym leaders!"

Brock nodded as he stated, "I know what you mean, I would love to see Roark and Roxanne again."

Nurse Joy commented, "Anyways, Juan is on the same ferry as your friends are on."

Ash started to get excited and shouted, "Oh yeah, now I'm getting excited!"

A female voice asked, "You going to toss your hat into the ring?"

Ash spun around and saw Dawn with Ranee. And Ranee was wearing a new outfit. She was wearing a white short sleeved shirt, a purple skirt, and a purple pouch with white shoes. The only thing the same was her silver locket.

Ash answered, "If there is a battle competition, you bet I am!"

Nurse Joy told him, "There is, for those who aren't coordinators."

Ash replied, "Then count me in!"

...

_Wishmaker1028: This one was a bit longer than the last three chapters but I want to really get into the sub story and then I'm going to get into the main story. I'm sorry if this is slow for anyone but I am working on it! Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


	5. Chapter 5

_In the middle of the ocean_

Erika was enjoying the sunshine, sitting on the sky deck of the ship, enjoying the sunshine. Right next to her was the ship's pool. Misty was taking a swim in it and surfaced.

She asked, "Wanna join me, Erika?"

Erika shook her head and answered, "No thanks, I'm working on my tan."

Just then, Juan from Sootopolis City came over, noticing Erika.

Juan greeted, "Erika, good to see you."

Erika perked up, saw Juan, and smiled at him.

She gushed, "Oh, Juan! I didn't know you were here too."

Misty got out of the pool and asked, "Juan?"

Erika explained, "Yeah, he runs the gym in Sootopolis City, Hoenn." Erika started to introduce, "Juan, this is..."

Juan interrupted, "Misty Waterflower, the Cerulean City gym leader from Kanto." He offered his hand and added, "Pleased to meet you."

Misty shook his hand as she responded, "Pleased to meet you as well." She paused for a moment before asking, "But you know me?"

Juan told her, "The Cerulean City gym is famous for their water shows. I went to one as a kid and it inspired me so."

Erika stated, "Juan also does water shows."

Misty gushed, "I would love to see one."

Juan told them, "Well, we are going to perform one at the Water Festival but I will show you a combination I've been working on. Follow me."

With that, Juan took the lead as the two girls followed, Misty toweling herself dry. She couldn't believe that she was actually going to see more Hoenn Pokémon. Misty giggled as she thought, _'Maybe I can finally see a Milotic.'_ Erika saw that Misty was getting excited and she understood why, Juan was pretty impressive. Erika smiled and thought, _'She'll freak at Juan's star Pokémon.'_ The three of them found themselves in a bigger pool.

Misty gushed as she stated, "This is just amazing!"

Erika replied, "Yeah, this pool is very huge!"

Juan responded, "This is where my friend and I train."

Juan threw his Pokeball into the water, making it shine. That's when a twister appeared in front of them, destroying itself, making water drops. There - in the middle - was Juan's star Pokémon, Milotic. Misty squealed in delight.

Juan smiled as he commanded, "Use Safeguard!" Milotic's body started to glow a green color as did the water drops. Juan commanded, "Now use Water Pulse."

Milotic fired the blue attack, destroying the rain drops, making green and blue rain. Juan seemed displeased by this. Erika looked at Juan.

She asked, "Juan, what's the matter?"

He explained, "While the combination is good, we have trouble finishing it off."

The Cerulean City gym leader looked at Milotic, who looked just as confused as its trainer. That's when she had an idea. Grabbing a Pokeball from her bag, she threw it in the water. The water glowed and out popped her Gyarados. Gyarados roared as Juan looked at Misty.

She stated, "Battle us and we can figure something out."

Juan was surprised by this as was Erika. Erika thought, _'Misty defiantly has her own style.'_

...

_Nine years ago_

Gary and Erika looked around as they heard the sound. Delia and Ash heard it too as did Professor Oak, Daisy-Mae, Erika's parents, Silver, and his mom.

Ash looked at his mom and asked, "Mom, what's going on?"

Delia answered, unsure, "I'm not sure, sweetie..."

Which was true, she didn't know what the sound was. It sounded like a high pitch shriek. Like a large bird was flying over head... Anyways, Ash looked at his mom.

He asked, "Do you think dad will be okay take down Team Rocket?"

Delia reassured, "I'm sure he'll be fine."

Ash smiled back as he hugged her tightly. Delia returned it, smiling. Back with Erika and Gary, they looked puzzled.

Erika asked, "What was that, Gary?"

Gary shrugged and answered, "I have no idea, Erika. Gramps would know more than I would...maybe Daisy-Mae."

After a simple shrug, the two of them headed to their respected homes. With Silver, he was still looking at the scene between Gary and Erika. When both of them walked off, Silver was getting hot under the collar. He knew what he had to do. He had to prove himself, he had to defeat Professor Oak's grandson, and most importantly - he had to get and earn the heart of his crush.

Silver vowed, "And that's what I shall do." He decided to choose Charmander as he starter and then get in contact with his father. Silver went over to his Mom and asked, "Mom, where does father live again?"

Silver's mother (Marie) questioned, "Why do you need to see him for?"

The red headed boy took a breath and answered, "I just want to talk to him."

Marie was still skeptical but knew that once Silver had his mind on something, there was no talking him out of it.

She sighed as she answered, "Viridian City, in the gym there. He's the gym leader there."

The red headed boy figured that but what he didn't know was the truth. Marie knew that Giovanni was the leader of Team Rocket, the evil organization that stole Pokémon and wanted to take over the world. And she knew that they were up to something but she couldn't say anything for if she did, people would find out the truth about her and her only son, Silver.

...

_Present Day, Team Rocket Headquarters_

Dr. Zeger's eyes widen at something he saw. He took out a radio and called up to Giovanni.

He stated, "Giovanni, sir, we have something."

Giovanni replied, "Be right down." In about three minutes, Giovanni was down in the lab and went in. He questioned, "What is it Zeger?"

Zeger answered, "We finally have the answer, sir. This stone can keep those clouds filled with shadow rain - as long as we need it. All thanks to David Ketchum's Raichu."

Giovanni stated, "And also thanks to Silver."

At that moment, seventeen year old Silver came in. He hadn't change all that much but he was taller and muscular.

Silver swiped his hair out of his face and replied, "A rather easy job, father."

Giovanni smiled proudly. However, Raichu woke up and started to freak out, getting out of the test tube.

Zeger asked, "Can you calm it down, Silver?"

Silver answered, "Sure."

With that, Silver threw a Pokeball at Raichu. In a flash of light, a Charizard appeared. Charizard roared, unafraid of an old Raichu.

Silver commanded, "Charizard, use Toxic."

Charizard fired the Poison type move but Raichu quickly dodged it. Raichu then gathered electric in his mouth and threw it at Charizard. Charizard grunted from the attack.

Silver questioned, "What attack was that, father?"

Giovanni explained, "That was Charge Beam. Seems that David trained Raichu very well before his untimely death."

Raichu gathered electricity in his cheeks and fired the bolt at Charizard. The Thunderbolt was still strong as it knocked down Charizard. Raichu ran out of the lab quickly as Silver tried to go after it.

Zeger called up, "No need my boy, we were done with that Raichu anyways."

Silver pointed out, "Suppose it finds Ash or Erika."

Giovanni shook his head and replied, "Ash is in Sinnoh and Erika is in Johto. That Raichu won't make it."

Zeger looked at Giovanni and asked, "When do you want to start the test for Project Shadow?"

Giovanni looked at the calendar and thought for a moment. Anytime would be perfect but it had to gain media attention in someway shape or form. And there was one event coming up that fit the venue, even though it was in Sinnoh.

Giovanni stated, "The Water Festival next week." He then looked at Zeger and asked, "Will it be working well by then?"

Zeger answered, "Defiantly."

Giovanni looked at Silver and asked, "You up for going to the Sinnoh region and placing the receiver on Mt. Coronet?"

Silver answered, "You bet, father."

Giovanni stated, "Good, then get yourself some powerful Pokémon and get a ferry ticket or a plane ticket. Head out there and get to Mt. Coronet. Place the receiver on the top - try not to be seen - and head back here as soon as you can."

Silver nodded and started to head out after recalling his Charizard.

Zeger looked at Giovanni and asked, "Do you really think that Silver can pull off this job, sir?"

Giovanni answered, "No but we have no choice since Silver isn't officially a member and we can't afford to attract attention right now."

...

_Wishmaker1028: Well, what does everyone think of the fifth chapter? Looks like Misty wants to battle Juan! It is going to be a big battle against Gyarados and Milotic, that's for sure! And Silver is working for his father - unofficially. Things aren't looking good at all right now... But things will get escalated sooner or later. Get ready guys! Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


	6. Chapter 6

_In the middle of the ocean_

Juan was still surprised by Misty's forwardness but smiled nonetheless.

He replied, "You have a battle, Misty."

Erika asked them, "So, shall I referee?"

Misty answered, "Yes please."

Erika nodded and went the middle of the pool. Misty went over to the other side as did her Gyarados. Unknown to any of them, Silver was behind them and saw the older version of Erika Jones. Silver started to have a nose bleed, time really helped Erika grow. Silver scolded himself and thought, _'Focus on the mission, not on getting the girl.'_ With that, he went downstairs and out of sight.

Erika stated, "This battle between Juan and Misty will now begin! Each trainer will use one Pokémon a piece and the battle will be over with when either's side's Pokémon can not continue. In addition, there will be no exchanges. Begin!"

Misty went first as she commanded, "Gyarados, use Ice Fang!"

Gyarados roared as its mouth opened with the chilling aura. Gyarados bit down on Milotic's tail. Juan was impressed with Gyarados speed.

He commanded, "Use Iron Tail!"

"Milo!" Milotic said.

Milotic's tail started to glow white and hit the Atrocious Pokémon. Gyarados was dazed but it could still battle. Misty was impressed with Juan and Milotic's power. Misty thought, _'I can see why he's a gym leader, he's rather tough.'_ Juan thought, _'She is a great gym leader, this battle is going to be interesting.'_

Misty commanded, "Gyarados, use Twister!"

Gyarados fired the Dragon type move, making a water tornado in the pool, like Milotic did before.

Juan commanded, "Milotic, use your Twister!"

Milotic did the same thing as Gyarados did as the two attacks collided in the middle, making a powerful water spout come up, making rain and a rainbow. But Juan was looking around for the Atrocious Pokémon, who had disappeared.

Juan asked, "Where'd Gyarados go?"

"Milo?" Milotic asked.

Misty smiled and commanded, "Use Ice Fang!"

Gyarados came up from underneath the water and bit down on Milotic, freezing it.

"Milotic," Juan cried out, worried.

Milotic was frozen over and knocked out.

Erika called, "Milotic is unable to battle, Gyarados wins! The victor of this match is Misty!"

Misty was in shock but then cried out, "We did it, Gyarados!"

Gyarados roared happily as Juan recalled Milotic, not in the least disappointed. He was rather pleased on how the battle turned out. Juan went over to Misty as did Erika, smiling.

Erika praised, "That was an awesome match, Misty!"

Misty stated, "Thanks!"

Juan added, "And your battle style was interesting and new. I rather liked it."

Misty blushed out of pride and replied, "Wow, that means a lot."

Erika asked, "How did you think of Gyarados diving into the water?"

Misty explained, "Well, I knew that Juan was probably going to do a close range attack after the water decreased so I told Gyarados to go underwater to hide."

Juan commented, "That battle was amazing and it gave me a great idea for the Water Festival."

Before either girl could ask, the whistle blew, indicating that they had arrived in Sinnoh.

...

_Sinnoh Region_

Ash, Pikachu, Dawn, Piplup, Brock, Ranee, and Crasher Wake were waiting at the docks. Ash was getting really excited about seeing Misty and Erika again. But he was more excited about seeing Misty. Dawn was getting really psyched.

Dawn commented, all excited, "Wow, I can't believe we finally get to meet Lure Girl!"

"Pip lup!" Piplup agreed.

Brock chuckled as he corrected, "Her name is Misty, Dawn."

Ranee recalled, "I personally haven't seen the Waterflower sisters since I left the Kanto region."

Crasher Wake commented, "Well, I am just excited to meet Juan and Misty."

Just then, the boat arrived at the dock. A mysterious shadow went passed everyone, fast and swift.

Ranee questioned, "What was with that?"

Before anyone could answer; a familiar voice yelled, "Ash!"

Ash spun around and saw Misty running up towards him.

Ash started running towards her and breathed, "Mist!"

The two embraced but quickly pulled apart due to their blushing.

Misty admitted, "G - good to see you again, Ash."

Ash agreed, "Y - you too, Mist."

Juan and Erika were right behind as Misty hugged Brock next.

Brock stated, "Wow, Misty, you really have grown as pretty as your sisters."

Misty smiled as she replied, "Thanks." She looked over at Dawn and stated, "You must be Dawn!"

Dawn nodded and replied, "Yeah, it is nice to finally meet you, Misty!"

Juan went over to Crasher Wake and commented, "You must be Crasher Wake then."

Crasher Wake nodded as he stated, "That I am and you must be Juan."

Erika tickled Ash from behind, making him jump and she laughed.

Ash commented, "Oh for Arceus sake, Erika. You scared me!"

Erika teased, "Now don't go using Pokémon's name in vein, Ash Ketchum. Your Mom would not approve."

As everyone met and got caught up, Ash turned to Misty.

Ash smiled and asked, "So do wanna see the Pokémon here from Sinnoh?"

Misty nodded excitedly and answered, "Sure, that sounds like fun."

Ash turned to Ranee and challenged, "Then do you mind if we have a match to show them off?"

Ranee answered, "Sure, sounds like fun."

In an instant, the two of them tossed their Pokeballs. Out of Ash's Pokeball popped Torterra and out of Ranee's Pokeball popped Lucario.

"Terra." Torterra said.

Lucario grunted.

Ash was impressed as he breathed, "Lucario..."

Erika brought out her Pokedex and scanned Torterra first.

Dexter chirped, _"Torterra, the Continent Pokémon. Some Pokémon are born on a Torterra's back and spend their entire life there."_ Erika then scanned Lucario. Dexter chirped, _"Lucario, the Aura Pokémon. A well-trained one can sense auras to identify and take in the feelings of creatures over half a mile away. Also by reading the auras of all things, it can tell how others are feeling from over half a mile away."_

Ranee asked, "You up for a expo match, Lucario?"

Lucario grunted as Ash turned to Torterra.

He asked his Pokémon, "You up for this?"

"Terra!" Torterra answered.

Brock decided to judge the match and yelled out, standing in the middle, "This one-on-one match between Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and Ranee Katina from Veilstone City will now begin!"

Ash went first and commanded, "Torterra, Rock Climb!"

"Terra!" Torterra yelled as its claws turned white.

Torterra slammed on the ground and made rocks appeared. Torterra then started to climb.

Ranee quickly reacted and commanded, "Lucario stop Torterra, use Aura Sphere!"

Lucario grunted as it fired the blue aura at the Continent Pokémon. Torterra, being slow, couldn't dodge it and got hit by the attack. However, Lucario was hit too.

Ranee sneered a bit as she commanded, "Lucario, Metal Claw!"

Lucario grunted and went charging at Torterra at full speed.

Ash quickly reacted, "Torterra, Energy Ball!"

Torterra prepared to fire the grass ball at Lucario but timing was off as Lucario destroyed the Energy Ball and hit the Continent Pokémon. Misty was impressed that Lucario was that quick. But she knew that Ash wouldn't go down quietly.

Ash commanded, "Leaf Storm and then Energy Ball!"

Everyone exchanged confused looks but the two attacks were launched as the leaves from Leaf Storm surrounded Energy Ball, making it more powerful. Lucario was hit by the double attack as Ranee looked stunned. She wasn't expecting that. She thought, _'That was like from a contest and that was some combination.'_

Brock stated, "Okay, I think that about does it."

Ranee went over to Lucario and praised, "That was a great battle, Lucario."

The Aura Pokémon grunted as she recalled it back to its Pokeball.

Ash went over to Torterra and also praised, "You fought well, Torterra and you deserve a great rest."

"Terra." Torterra said as it was called back to its Pokeball.

Misty went over to Ash and complimented, smiling, "You have really improved."

Ash lowered his hat over his eyes and admitted, "Yeah but nothing like my Dad."

Misty noticed this and knew that Ash was sad whenever he did that. Misty was a bit perplexed about it as she thought, _'His Dad? He has never mentioned him.'_

Erika went over to Ranee and stated, "I have to say, Lucario certainly was impressive as was Torterra."

Dawn added, "Your Lucario was just as strong as Maylene's!"

Crasher Wake stated, "I must admit, you both did a very fine job."

Juan replied, "I happen to agree."

Ranee bowed out of respect and responded, "Thanks so much, both of you."

Ash lifted his hat up as he commented, "We better get to the Pokémon Center."

Everyone nodded as they headed there. But Misty lagged behind, capturing Dawn and Ranee's attention.

Dawn frowned, "You coming, Misty?"

Misty reassured, "Uh, yeah..."

She caught up to them and followed.

...

_Wishmaker1028: Now, I know that my original character Erika Jones and the gym leader of Celadon City Erika have the same first name. I already have one review asking if I meant the Celadon gym leader, which I don't. I plan to fix this by referring to the Celadon gym leader as Erica. This will help with any further confusion if I do decide to use Erica in this story or not. So there you have it, the Celadon gym leader is now Erica to prevent further confusion. Anyways, please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


	7. Chapter 7

_Mt. Coronet_

Silver started to climb up the tallest mountain in Sinnoh. He couldn't believe that he saw Erika again. As he traveled up the mountain, he captured two Pokémon along the way: a Chingling and a Bronzor. Silver figured that he would evolve Chingling and Bronzor, they would be a lot stronger in their final forms. Silver continued to climb with Charizard right next to him, using Iron Tail a few times. Silver got to another part of the mountain, got out a poke ball, and brought out his Golem.

"Golem." Golem said.

Silver commanded, "Golem, use Bulldoze."

"Golem!" Golem said.

With that, Golem stomped down on the ground and attacked every Pokémon in the area. Silver smirked as he continued to climb. Happening upon a tall tree, Silver brought out his Tangela. The Vine Pokémon shrieked.

Silver commanded, "Vine Whip, Tangela."

Tangela obeyed as its vines went up into the tree, scaring away the Starly in it. Silver was pleased and that's when Tangela used some prehistoric powers, throwing it at the Starly. Silver knew that was Ancient Power.

Silver started to say, "Then that means..."

That's when white light enveloped Tangela and in an instant, Tangrowth was there. The Vine Pokémon shrieked as Silver seemed pleased with its evolution.

Silver hissed, "Good, then that means we're getting strong enough to face _them_."

Golem, Charizard, and Tangworth nodded. The three Pokémon followed their trainer up the mountain. The weather on the mountain was - at the moment - rather decent. There was no snow yet but Silver knew that the snow would probably at the top or close to it. The red head kept going as he remembered his past, nine years ago. He was still jealous of Gary. Erika just didn't appreciate him but she would soon. He thought, _'She'll appreciate me for once my father and I rule the world, she'll be begging to come and see me.'_ Silver also remembered Ash Ketchum, the most hyper one of the four trainers. Even though he lost his father, he still wanted to be a Pokémon master like his father. Silver was worried about David's Raichu, unsure that the Pokémon wouldn't go down without a fight. Silver thought, _'After all, it does belong to a Ketchum.'_ The red headed teen finally got to the top of the mountain.

Silver turned to Charizard and asked, "Can you bring up the machine?"

Charizard roared and flew back down. Unknown to any of them, David's Raichu did follow them and ran off towards Pastoria City, looking for any kind of help. Back with Silver and his Pokémon, Charizard arrived again with the machine in its claws.

Charizard placed it down as Silver got to work. In an instant, the machine started to work. The antenna on top glowed a purple color. Silver took out his Pokegear and called headquarters.

He reported, "Father, the machine is now up. It is ready."

Giovanni replied, "Good, return to headquarters as soon as you can."

Silver hung up as he got on Charizard and flew off, after recalling his Pokémon.

...

_Nine years ago_

David, Raichu, Lance, and Andrew arrived in Vermillion City. There was Team Rocket (about a handful of agents) and Giovanni himself. Lance was surprised and thought, _'Why would the leader of Team Rocket would come out in the shadows right now?'_ Quite frankly, the dragon master was a bit suspicious.

Andrew stated, "Well, looks like we're going to have an easy party to attend."

David replied, "Looks like it." David turned to Raichu and asked, "Ready, buddy?"

"Rai, rai!" Raichu answered, nodding.

Raichu got off of David's shoulder and sparked its cheeks. Andrew sent out a Blastoise. Lance sent out his Dragonite.

"Blast!" Blastoise said.

The Dragon Pokémon seemed to have barked, powerfully. The grunts responded with a bunch of Golbat and Graveler. Eventually, the grunts were taken down easily as David was face-to-face with the leader of Team Rocket himself. Giovanni threw a Pokeball and with a flash of light, his Nidoking appeared. The Drill Pokémon roared, ready for battle. Raichu was a bit tired but wasn't about to let his master down. Eventually, the battle was so high paced and fast moving that it caused David to stand on the edge of a ledge near the pier. Lance was too busy with a strong agent as was Andrew.

Andrew warned, "Be careful, David."

David nodded, "I will, I promise." He commanded, "Raichu, Iron Tail once more!"

Raichu ran towards Nidoking with its tail glowing white. Giovanni stayed calm as Nidoking grabbed Raichu by his throat.

"Rai!" Raichu cried out, struggling against Nidoking's strong grip.

David cried out worried, "Raichu!"

Nidoking threw Raichu in a glass container and before David could get out another Pokémon, Giovanni smirked.

Giovanni commanded, "I don't think so. Nidoking, use Earth Power."

Nidoking roared as it slammed down its hand. The earth beneath everyone shook as the powerful Ground type move went straight for David. He didn't have a chance to react for the next thing everyone knew, he fell off of the pier he was standing on and into the water. David could swim, no problem. Or at least, that's what Andrew thought. David wasn't coming back up for air. Lance noticed this too as his blood went cold. Andrew thought, _'Dear Arceus, no...'_ Giovanni, however, was pleased by this. Raichu, still stuck in the glass, was stunned. There was no way. There was just no way that his trainer died.

Giovanni commanded to his troops, "Pull out. We have what we want."

All of the agents obeyed and with that, everyone packed up and got in the helicopter. Giovanni did the same, taking the glass container himself.

"Rai, Raichu!" Raichu yelped, trying to get Andrew or Lance to save him.

But before the two of them could react, the helicopter took off. Lt. Surge arrived too late to help and next to him was his Raichu.

Lt. Surge growled, "We're too late!"

"Rai..." Raichu said, sadly.

Andrew started to cry as he knew that he had to tell Delia and his wife that David was gone. But that's when he realized he had to tell someone else too...

He breathed, "Ash..."

...

_Present Day, Pastoria City_

As Ash and Brock were catching up with Misty, all of the Pokémon were playing. Misty had caught a Finneon, a Shellos (East Sea), and a Mantyke. They were getting along with Starmie, Psyduck, and Gyarados pretty well. Erika had caught a Shiny Floatzel, a Luxray, and a Vespiquen. They were getting along with Venasaur, Espeon, and Misdreavus very well.

Erika stated, "I have to admit, this is rather peaceful."

Dawn replied, "I know, its awesome."

Ranee was cooking their lunch since Brock was still talking with Ash and Misty.

She responded, "Sitting outside will make the food taste great too."

Brock commented, "I can't believe that you are making lunch instead of me."

Ash teased, "Feels weird, huh, Brock?"

Brock replied, "Yeah, it does."

Misty responded, "Well, one thing is for sure, I am interested in the story of Erika."

Erika waved her hand and commented, "I'm not that interesting."

Ash started to say, "I don't know about that, Erika. You do have an interesting story after your brother was killed..."

Erika hanged her head sadly as Dawn saw this.

Dawn whispered, "Oh my gosh..."

The blue haired coordinator hugged the brown haired trainer from Pallet Town. Erika returned it, still sad.

Erika admitted softly, "Truth is, I am not really over it, Ash."

To this, Ash lowered his hat over his eyes sadly. Misty noticed it.

He whispered, "You aren't the only one still hurting."

Misty started to ask, "Ash..."

Ash looked up again and apologized, "I'm sorry, Erika."

Erika softly smiled as Ranee looked over to them, having a chance to enter the conversation.

Ranee stated, "Sometimes it is hard to move on from the past. It isn't easy. But sometimes, it is easy to leave the past behind then face it."

Ash and Erika thought upon Ranee's words as they all ate their lunch. Of course, they changed topics. Eventually, everyone started to laugh. It was like nothing happened. Suddenly, there was a rustling in the bush and Raichu came out of them. It collapsed, exhausted and hungry. Everyone gasped as Ash went over to Raichu and scooped it up in his arms. Dawn scanned it with her Pokedex.

Dexter chirped, _"Raichu, the Mouse Pokémon. Its tail discharges electricity into the ground, protecting it from getting shocked."_

Brock looked at it and said, "And its badly hurt, we better get it to the Pokémon Center."

Everyone nodded in agreement as they rushed to the Pokémon Center. As they ran, Raichu slightly opened its eyes. Upon seeing Ash in its blurry sight, it thought that David was alive. But knowing that wasn't possible, Raichu thought of Ash, David's son.

"Rai chu rai..." Raichu whispered.

Ash perked up at the nickname and was stunned. He was called that by one Pokémon, his father's Raichu. Before he could finish that thought, Nurse Joy took Raichu into the back. And Ash was still in shock. Misty placed her hand on his shoulder.

Ash turned to her and asked, "Yes?"

Misty questioned worried, "Are you okay, Ash?"

Ash placed his hands on her shoulder's and answered, scared out of his mind, "Mist, that might've been my father's Raichu..."

...

_Wishmaker1028: Dun, dun, dun! There you have it! David's Raichu and Ash are finally reunited! This is going to be interesting to be sure! How will Ash react to Raichu's story? Will the Water Festival be the same? Will Misty confess her love? And what's going on with Paul and Barry? Will Team Rocket's plan come into the light? There is only one way to find out - of course - in chapter 8! Because I am not giving any spoilers! And now, please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


	8. Chapter 8

_Nine years ago_

Back in Pallet Town, Gary was hanging out with his grandfather and his sister. With them were Erika, her parents, Ash, and his Mom. They heard that Lance was coming with Andrew. Delia was worried that David wasn't with them. Delia was worried as she wondered, _'What could've happened?'_ Ash was worried too as Erika had that bad feeling. Gary kept quiet as did Daisy-Mae, they were all worried. The only ones not present were Silver and his mother. Coming over the horizon were Lance and Andrew, looking horrible. Delia knew something was wrong, everyone did. Lance looked at Andrew as he went over to Delia.

Andrew sighed sadly as he stated, "Delia, David has been killed and Raichu has been kidnapped."

Delia immediately started to cry as Andrew held her in a hug. Everyone started to cry all but Ash. The boy was in too much shock. Erika looked over at him and saw that he wasn't crying and was in shock. She knew how he felt since she lost her brother last year.

Erika breathed, "Ash..."

Ash looked at her with sad eyes as tears finally came down.

Ash cried, "I can't believe it...Dad's dead...he's gone..."

Delia scooped up her son and the young boy cried on her shoulder, not even looking at either Lance or Andrew. Both Lance and Andrew started to feel really badly as Delia took her son home, crying herself. Erika tried to go after them, to help but Gary stopped her and shook his head. Erika looked sadly on as the two remaining Ketchum's went into their house. Andrew turned to his father and handed him a Pokeball with a lightning bolt on it. Professor Oak looked at it and then at his son.

Andrew stated, "We found that Pokeball in David's possession. Inside is a Pikachu, the son of David's Raichu. However, it doesn't like humans. Ash isn't ready for it yet but I know he will be soon, Dad."

Oak studied the Pokeball. Remembering the story that Ash told him when he traveled through time with Celebi, he was indeed the one that gave Ash Pikachu. He just didn't know how he caught it. Oak hung his head in sadness as he thought, _'Sadly, now I do.'_ Erika and Gary weren't exactly paying attention since they had walked off before Andrew gave his dad the Pokeball.

Erika whispered, "I still can't believe that this is happening."

Gary whispered, "Me either."

Lance came over to them and asked, "Hey, are you two alright?"

The nine year old girl hissed, "You just told my best friend that his father is dead, what do you think?!"

Gary hugged her shoulders and advised, "Take it easy, Erika."

Lance saw this as he asked, "And you are...?"

He explained, "I'm Gary Oak and this is Erika Jones."

Lance nodded as he stated, "Well, you see, when David took off for Vermillion City with Andrew, we didn't record his victory. Therefore, he is not the Pokémon Master. He was just a challenger to the Elite Four."

Erika and Gary looked at the Dragon type trainer in disbelief as they knew how much the title meant to Delia and Ash.

Erika hissed, "How could you?!"

With that, she ran off, crying her eyes out.

...

_Present Day, Pastoria City_

As Ash, Misty, Brock, Erika, Dawn, and Ranee were waiting for the report on Raichu; the more Ash was reliving his childhood. Misty was worried about Ash, she couldn't believe that Raichu could belong to Ash's father. Misty went over to him and tapped his shoulder. Ash spun around to her and she saw his eyes. Ash Ketchum had been crying. Misty gasped as she hugged Ash with all of her might.

Ash returned it as he wondered, "Mist, what if _it is_ my Dad's Raichu? What am I gonna do? Will Raichu want to talk to me...?"

Misty looked up at him and questioned, "What exactly happened?"

Ash sighed as he looked at Erika and she nodded. Ash told them all the story and by the time he was finished, Nurse Joy came in.

Ash went over to her and asked, "How's Raichu?"

Nurse Joy answered, "It will make a fast and speedy recovery, all it needs is a good night's sleep."

Dawn joyfully stated, "That's great news!"

Nurse Joy commented, "Although, when I was examining it, it looked like it had been subjected to multiple tests."

Ranee gasped, "Oh how awful..."

Nurse Joy replied, nodding, "Yes, I was surprised on how fast it recovered."

Erika looked over at Ash and responded, "Probably because it saw you, Ash."

Ash merely nodded as he looked at Nurse Joy and asked, "Can I sit with Raichu?"

Nurse Joy smiled and answered, "I don't see anything wrong with that."

Ash went into the room where Raichu was resting. Or at least Ash thought he was resting. The minute he came into the room, Raichu was in Ash's arms.

"Rai chu rai..." Raichu whined, crying.

Ash was surprised but held Raichu in his arms nonetheless. Raichu kept crying as Ash rubbed the Mouse Pokémon's back, feeling bad.

Ash was trying to calm it down as he whispered, "It's okay, Raichu... It's over..."

Raichu sniffled as it looked up at Ash, teary eyed. There was so much of David in him and Raichu hadn't seen the young boy since nine years ago. But Raichu could tell that the only son of David Ketchum was almost all grown up. That's when Raichu remembered. Eyes wide, Raichu pulled on Ash's collar.

"Rai chu rai, rai rai chu!" It yelped.

Ash looked at Raichu, surprised. Over time, Ash had learned to understand most Pokémon. And his father's Raichu was no different.

Ash questioned, "Wait, Nurse Joy was being dead serious...? You were experimented on by Team Rocket this whole time...?"

"Rai rai chu chu rai..." Raichu nodded sadly.

Ash petted Raichu's head and whispered, "You really belong to David Ketchum...?"

"Rai ri..." Raichu replied.

Ash sighed as he recognized the name. Ash lowered his hat over his eyes, sadly. Misty saw this as everyone else waited outside of the room.

Dawn commented, "I wish I knew what they were saying."

Erika questioned, "I wonder if that's really Mr. Ketchum's Raichu...?"

Brock asked, "Didn't you say that it was captured by Team Rocket?"

To that, Erika nodded.

...

Unknown to any of them, Paul and Barry were also in the same Pokémon Center. Both of the boys were oblivious to what was going on. Barry was getting ready for the Water Festival. The mauve haired trainer was looking over what classified as _'proper'_ attire for a contest. He had gotten a dark purple undershirt, a black jacket, and black pants. The mask was a dark purple, like the undershirt. Paul was thinking this through, not knowing a thing about contests. Barry smiled at him.

Barry placed a hand on Paul's shoulder and stated, "Relax, Paul. I called in for some help."

Paul curiously asked, "What kind of help?"

Barry smiled more. Just then, there was a knock at the door. Barry peeked through the peephole and saw Kenny.

Barry opened the door and explained, "This kind."

Kenny came in as he smiled at Barry and asked, "Hey, so what's going on, Barry?"

Paul looked at Barry and asked, "You didn't tell him, did you?"

Barry answered, "I figured this was better to explain in person than over the phone. Kenny Kengo, this is Paul Shinji, from Veilstone City. He wants to get his girlfriend Ranee Katina back by entering the Water Festival."

Paul looked at Kenny as he asked, "You think you can help...?"

Kenny shrugged simply and answered, "Even though I was on my way to Johto, the ships stopped at the Whirl Islands before we had to go back. The ocean was too choppy, as if a hurricane was coming. In fact, that's when I ran into Professor Oak's grandson - Gary - and Ritchie Hiroshi."

Barry stated, "Wait, thee Professor Oak? How wicked is that?!"

Paul questioned, "Did they come with you?"

Kenny nodded as he answered, "Yeah, they are in the lobby waiting for me."

Paul stated, "I like to meet them."

Barry replied, "Ah yeah, me too, this is gonna be awesome!"

Kenny smiled at Barry's hyper nature. But Paul was a bit of the quiet type from what Kenny observed.

...

Back in the lobby, Ritchie went looking around while Gary waited for Kenny. He couldn't believe that Kenny knew Ash or that he would see Gary again. The two had literally just ran into each other while Ritchie was training for the Whirl Cup and then the two met Kenny. They were planning to go to Johto together until the hurricane changed their plans and they had to come to Pastoria City. Ritchie thought, _'At least I'll get to see Ash again, wait til he sees Zippo! I still can't believe that I now have a Charizard!'_

...

_Wishmaker1028: Well, I have to admit bringing back Ritchie along with Kenny was a pretty good idea! What do you think guys? Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


	9. Chapter 9

_Pastoria City_

Ritchie walked outside to the battlefield, where Ranee was looking up at the stars with her Infernape.

Ritchie went over to her and asked, "Enjoying the stars?"

Ranee smiled as she answered, "Loving the stars. They are just so beautiful, they seem to dance in the sky."

Ritchie laid back, calling upon Zippo (Charizard) to join them. Zippo roared.

Ritchie stated, "Whoa, easy Zippo. We're just enjoying a quiet night in Pastoria City."

Ranee sat up and asked, "This your first time in Sinnoh?"

Ritchie nodded and answered, "Yeah, I've never been here before. I was in the Whirl Islands before I came here."

Ranee was astounded but held out her hand and introduced, "My name is Ranee."

Ritchie shook her hand and replied, "I'm Ritchie."

Ranee asked, "Where are you from?"

Ritchie answered, "A small town in the Kanto Region." He turned to her and questioned, "And yourself?"

Ranee smiled as she explained, "Veilstone City, right here in Sinnoh."

Ritchie looked over at Zippo and saw that the Fire/Flying type was next to Infernape, as if it was studying the Pokémon. Zippo seemed to have roared, curiously. Ritchie took out his Pokedex and pointed it at Infernape, wanting to know more about the Pokémon.

Dexter chirped, _"Infernape, the Flame Pokémon. It uses unique fighting moves with fire on its hands and feet. It will take on any opponent."_

Ritchie looked at Ranee and asked, "So it is a Fire/Fighting type?"

Ranee nodded and answered, "Right and my starter Pokémon. We've been together since Infernape was a Chimchar."

"Infernape!" Infernape said.

Ranee brought out her Pokedex and pointed it at Zippo.

Dexter chirped, _"Charizard, the Flame Pokémon. It is said that Charizard's fire burns hotter if it has experienced harsh battles."_

Ranee looked at the Pokémon, interested. She wanted to battle it. Ritchie seemed to have been thinking the same thing.

He asked, "Mind if we have a Pokémon battle? I would like to see how Infernape battles."

Ranee sprang to her feet and answered, "Sure, I've been itching for a battle."

Ritchie smiled as he did the same thing. Zippo came over as did Infernape.

Ritchie stated, "You got first."

Ranee commanded, "Infernape, use Mach Punch!"

Infernape ran towards Charizard with amazing speed. Its fist was glowing a bluish white light. Ritchie wondered why Ranee did that.

He countered, "Zippo, Aerial Ace!"

Zippo gained speed and dodged Mach Punch. Before Aerial Ace could hit, Ranee smirked.

She commented, "I knew that you were going to do that." She commanded, "Infernape, Dig!"

Infernape quickly went underground, avoiding the flying type move. Ritchie was impressed.

He commanded, "Zippo, go after it and then use Iron Tail!"

Zippo went into the tunnel.

Ranee commanded, "Quick Infernape, use Fire Blast!"

Just as Ranee said that, there was an explosion under the ground - shaking it. The two trainers stood their ground, surprisingly. Ritchie looked up and saw that Infernape was on Zippo's back.

...

_Team Rocket Headquarters_

Dr. Zeger was checking over things with their plans. Silver was training his Pokémon: Machamp, Tangrowth, Golem, Charizard, Chingling, and Bronzor. Machamp was the Pokémon that Silver had first caught on his journey to help out his father. Machamp used Dynamicpunch on Golem but that didn't seem to do much. As for Chingling and Bronzor, they couldn't keep up with the stronger Pokémon. Silver rolled his eyes. Cassidy and Butch came in, as requested by Dr. Zeger. Butch saw Silver training and automatically rolled his eyes.

Butch asked annoyed, "Can't you find a better place to train?"

Silver rolled his eyes and answered, "For your information, Leach, I like training in here."

Butch got mad and yelled, "It's not Leach, it's Butch!"

Cassidy rolled her eyes at her partner. She seriously didn't know why she was crushing on him, he had too many name problems.

Cassidy stated, "Calm down, Mitch. Your veins are starting to pop out."

Butch got madder and yelled, "It's Butch, get it right!"

Silver rolled his eyes again as Zeger went over to them.

Zeger commented, "Now isn't the time for this. If we want to take over the world, we have to get all of these Pokémon fully evolved and strong."

Cassidy questioned, "And that's why you called us down here? To help this brat train?"

Silver protested, "Hey!"

Zeger explained, "No. Recently, I have completed an evolution chamber that will force Pokémon to evolve and make them evil. This will also help with our Shadow Pokémon plan when we have a Pokémon that is really weak."

Cassidy evilly smiled as she stated, "Sounds perfect."

Zeger replied, "Place the Pokeballs in the chamber that need to be evolved and the chamber will do the rest in less than an hour."

Cassidy placed down Houndour's poke ball as Silver placed down Chingling and Bronzor's poke balls. An hour later; Houndour was evolved into Houndoom, Chingling was evolved into Chimecho, and Bronzor was evolved into Bronzong.

Butch was impressed as he stated, "Wow, it actually works."

Cassidy petted her new Houndoom as she purred, "Very well at that."

Silver looked over at Zeger and asked, "Did you show this to father?"

That's when a familiar male voice caught their attention, "He just did."

All four of them looked up as they saw Giovanni on the rafters, having seen everything. Zeger looked at him.

Giovanni stated, "Very well done, Zeger. Now we have something to help the weak and pathetic Pokémon our ray might get."

Zeger asked, "So this pleases you?"

Giovanni nodded as he answered, "Very much so."

Butch turned to them and asked, "But how are you going to get wild Pokémon in there if they require Pokeballs?"

Zeger answered, "Good question, Botch."

Butch got mad and yelled, "It's not Botch, it's Butch!"

Zeger ignored him and explained, "This chamber can also work on Pokémon that do not have Pokeballs or hate being confined."

Giovanni nodded as he replied, "Good, cause we might run into that if we get any Rattata or any Starly. Or if those three idiots ever catch Ash Ketchum's Pikachu."

...

_Nine years ago_

Ash was up in his room, crying. He couldn't believe that his father was dead and Raichu was in the grasp of Team Rocket. Ash hugged his pillow as he cried. His stuffed toys were the silent watchers of the nine year old. On the desk in the room was the hat that Ash had won recently. He sent in 1,000 postcards to get it and he was awfully proud of it. Then all of this started to happen. His father was the Pokémon Master one minute and then dead the next. Ash didn't find it fair. Delia came up to her son's room and saw him the way he was. She knew what she had to tell him would break his heart. Delia went over to her son and tapped his shoulder. Ash looked through his teary eyes, sniffling. Delia had a few tears in her eyes, heartbroken to see her son like this.

Ash cried, all upset, "Mom..."

Delia held him in a tight hug as he cried on her shirt. Eventually, Delia joined him. She knew that she shouldn't cry in front of her son but this time, she made an exception since she was so sad by David's sudden passing. In all honesty, she thought that David would come home with his Raichu - safe and sound - and they could spend some good times with Ash before he went on his journey. And when they were alone, they would cuddle up by the fire together and share a few kisses. Delia sniffled as she knew at that moment she was a widow. A tear rolled down her face and landed on top of Ash's head.

He looked up at her as he whispered, "Mom...?" Delia looked down at Ash as he stated, "I promise to protect you, even when I'm gone on my journey."

Delia smiled as she replied, "That's alright, sweetie. You just worry about yourself."

Ash knew that there was something else wrong, he couldn't explain it. He sensed something in his entire body. It was rather strange to him.

He asked, "Mom, there's something else, isn't there?"

Delia sighed as she answered, "Sweetie, your father was never registered as the Pokémon Master. He was just a challenger to the Elite Four and the Champion."

Ash pulled away from his Mom, stunned. He couldn't believe it. His father was never the Pokémon Master...?

Ash cried out in a huff, "That's not fair!"

Delia responded, "I happen to agree with you. He worked so hard to get that title."

Ash was silent for a while. Even though his heart was still broken from his father's recent death, he knew what he had to do. He grabbed the hat from the desk. Ash placed his hat on his head and put on some green fingerless gloves.

He vowed, "I, Ashton Satoshi Ketchum, vow that I will become a Pokémon Master. I will restore the family name and our honor. My father is the rightful Pokémon Master and I will be the one to make sure that his death was not in vein. I will stop Team Rocket once and for all! And I will protect my Mom from anything!"

Delia smiled at her son. Even though it was a lot to do, she was proud of him for at least trying. Delia thought, _'Wait until he gets older, he will realize that he can't do it all and will be forced to accept that.'_

...

_Wishmaker1028: I figured to give Pokémon 3 a little background where Ash was so determined to save his Mom from Entei. I figured that after his father passed away, he would vow that he would protect his Mom from anything. So what do you guys think and be honest! Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


	10. Chapter 10

-Flashback: _'Attack of the Prehistoric Pokémon'_ -

_Just before the dynamite explodes; Pikachu gets free, panics, and blasts the dynamite with Thunder Shock. The resulting explosion causes a rip in the canyon ground, and both Ash and Team Rocket fall through. The opening is then covered with rocks. Misty and Brock run up, and, with the lone survivor, Squirtle, begin digging Ash out. Underground, Ash and Team Rocket come to. After Team Rocket and Ash blame each other for the explosion, they start trying to figure out a way out. Pikachu, however, notices some red eyes in the dark shadows. It seems that the explosion awakened some prehistoric Pokémon. They are: Kabuto, Kabutops, Omanyte and Omastar - and are really cranky. Team Rocket tries to capture them, because they are thought to be extinct and have never been seen alive, but these Pokemon aren't in the mood._

_The Omastars, Kabutos, and Omanytes proceed to wipe the ground with Team Rocket, and Ash has to run for his life when Charmeleon refuses to battle two Kabutops. Plus, Pikachu's electricity is ineffective. On the surface, the excavation project is going slowly. Officer Jenny shows up announcing that the bulldozers can't get this far down into the canyon, but she promises to go get some help. Brock then calls out Geodude, and they start digging again. Misty thought, 'Please, Ash. Please don't die on me!'_

_But she whispered, "Ash, you better be okay. You still owe me a bike."_

_Underground again, Team Rocket is getting beaten up pretty badly, and Ash is cornered by the_ _Kabutops, when all of the sudden they all disappear into the dark recesses of the cave. Team Rocket gets up and rejoices, but Ash hears something else coming out of the dark. It's an Aerodactyl, and it too is pissed off. It's prehistoric, its hungry, it's a carnivore, and it thinks it has stumbled upon dinner...Ash and Team Rocket. Charmeleon tries to battle it, thinking he's hot stuff, but gets knocked out as soon as Aerodactyl hits him. Aerodactyl grabs Ash just as Misty and Brock break thru. Aerodactyl flies up out of the opening to the underground. It lands on a high rock, and proceeds to prepare Ash for supper. However, Charmeleon, who really wants to battle Aerodactyl, evolves into Charizard and forestalls Aerodactyl's dinner plans. Aerodactyl flies off, and Charizard gives chase._

_Charizard can't catch up to Aerodactyl, and when he fire blasts Aerodactyl, he gets Ash burned as well. On the ground, Jigglypuff makes an appearance. Misty coaxes a song out of it. Jigglypuff starts singing, and everyone starts to nod off, including Aerodactyl and Charizard. Misty didn't plan ahead real well, because if Aerodactyl falls asleep in midair, Ash has a mighty long fall to look forward to. Charizard keeps his fingers in his ears to stop the effects of Sing just long enough to catch Ash and land. Aerodactyl falls from the sky back into the underground cave. The concussion from it hitting the ground closes the opening back up with rocks. After everyone wakes up, Jenny clears everyone out of the canyon, and announces there will be no more digging._

-End of Flashback-

...

_Pastoria City_

Misty looked upon those events from years ago. She just wished that she had the confidence to tell Ash how she feels. Misty looked out the window and saw Ritchie and Ranee battling. Infernape was on the back of Charizard.

Ranee commanded, at the top of her lungs, "Infernape, Fire Blast!"

Infernape barely managed to open its eyes but when it heard its trainer yelling a command, it opened its mouth. Zippo didn't have a chance to dodge it and went down to the ground. Infernape got off of Zippo's back as the Fire/Flying type got to its feet.

Ranee asked, surprised, "How is it still able to battle?"

Ritchie answered, "Zippo and I are really strong. We aren't gonna lose to a Fire/Fighting type!"

Misty couldn't believe who Ranee was battling. It was Ritchie! She hadn't seen him since the Lugia incident back in the Johto region.

Misty questioned, "What's Ritchie doing here?"

A familiar male voice behind her stated, "Better question is what we are doing here, Red."

Misty spun around and saw Gary standing there.

Misty blurted out, "Gary?!" Gary nodded as he offered her a hug. Misty returned it as they embraced for a few minutes. Misty questioned, "What are you doing here? Ash is going to freak!"

Gary explained, "Ashy-boy knows I'm here. I've been researching Pokémon here for awhile."

Misty smiled as she stated, "Well, it is good to see you."

Gary nodded and replied, "Same here, Red."

The two of them turned to the battle as they saw that Infernape and Zippo were trading Flamethrower's. Ranee was getting really excited as was Ritchie. They hadn't had an exciting battle like this in awhile.

Ritchie commanded, "Zippo, finish it off with Aerial Ace!"

Zippo flew up as it came back down again, striking Infernape.

Ranee cried out, "Infernape!"

But her Flame Pokémon was down and out, giving Ritchie the win. Ranee recalled Infernape, proud of her Pokémon. Ritchie also recalled Zippo, also proud of his Pokémon. Misty and Gary went outside.

Gary stated, "Great match, Ritchie."

Ritchie replied, "Thanks Gary!"

Misty noticed this as she asked, "You two know each other?"

Ritchie answered, "Yeah, we met at the Whirl Islands."

Ranee went over to Misty and asked, "And you know these two?"

Misty nodded as Gary and Ritchie exchanged looks.

Gary asked, "You know her?"

Misty nodded and answered, "Yeah, she's a friend and rival of Ash's."

Ranee greeted, "A pleasure!"

Gary waved, awkwardly as he turned to Misty and asked, "Who else is here?"

Before Misty could answer; they heard a gasp.

A familiar female voice breathed, "For the love of Arceus..."

Gary spun around and saw Erika standing there. With her were Dawn and Brock.

Gary whispered, "Erika Jones..."

Erika couldn't believe her eyes, "Gary Oak..."

The two of them hugged as everyone smiled. Gary saw Dawn and Brock.

He put two and two together as he stated, "Ashy-boy is here, isn't he?"

Brock nodded and replied, "Yes, he is."

Dawn commented, "Good to see you again!"

Brock saw Ritchie and the two caught up a bit. But Erika was blushing over seeing Gary after a long time.

Another familiar male voice asked, "What are you guys doing here?"

The heroes looked over and saw Barry, Kenny, and Paul. Ranee was surprised to see Paul but Dawn was really surprised to see Kenny. A few minutes later, everyone was caught up as Gary was in complete shock.

Gary questioned, "Mr. Ketchum's Raichu is here?"

Brock explained, "Apparently, it got free for Team Rocket's headquarters and wounded up here somehow."

Erika asked, "What I don't get is if Team Rocket's headquarters is rumored to be in Kanto, how did it get all the way over here?"

Ranee answered, "That's a good question."

Paul stated, "Maybe how it got here by boat."

Ritchie added, "And then found Ash by accident."

Dawn replied, "That is possible. I just feel bad for Ash. Raichu coming back into his life wasn't what he was expecting."

Barry stomped his feet and yelled, "I am so going to fine those guys for doing that to Ash and his family!"

Kenny stated, "Well, one thing is for sure. The league didn't do a very good job with handling the fact that Ash's father was the Pokémon Master when he was killed."

Dawn replied, "I happen to agree with that, Kenny."

Brock responded, "I think we all do."

...

Ash was still sitting with his father's Raichu. Ash had fallen asleep but Raichu was still awake. Raichu rolled over and looked at Ash. It was amazed on how much his master's son looked so much like his master. Raichu sniffed Ash and smelled the same aura that was in David.

"Rai chu rai..." Raichu said, stunned.

Raichu sensed the strong aura within Ash, just like David's. Raichu nudged Ash.

"Rai chu rai?" Raichu asked.

When Ash didn't wake, Raichu gave up and laid down. Within a matter of moments, the Mouse Pokémon went back to sleep but a bit more comfortable.

...

_Wishmaker1028: Well, there you have it! I rather liked this chapter as everyone now knows that David's Raichu is back. Paul and Ranee are somewhat back together as are Kenny and Dawn. Don't worry, there will be more T rated stuff coming soon! Just wait! Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


	11. Chapter 11

_Pastoria City, a few days later_

Everyone was at the Water Festival. Juan and Wake were the hosts for the event. With Misty on stage - they made a wonderful intro. Misty smiled as she got off stage and hugged her two coordinator friends: Dawn and Ranee. Both girls giggled as the festivities started. The coordinators went over to the staging area. Dawn got into her pink contest dress, entering with Piplup. Ranee got into her purple contest dress, entering with Gorebyss. Misty decided to try her hand at contest as she bought herself a yellow and blue dress suit, entering with Corsola. Paul got into his dark purple contest suit, entering with Gastordon. Ash decided to enter the contest for fun as he wore his suit from the Wallace Cup, entering with Buizel. Kenny got into his green contest suit, entering with Floatzel. Misty caught sight of Ash and blushed heavily. Ranee caught sight of Paul and also blushed heavily.

Dawn caught sight of Kenny after so long and blushed heavily. Dawn was the first to perform by showing off Bubblebeam and Drill Peck. Kenny went next to perform by showing off Razor Wind and Water Pulse. Ranee went third by showing off her Gorebyss' pink color. Paul went forth, nervously, showing off Muddy Water and Ice Beam. Misty went fifth by showing off Spike Cannon and Bubble. Ash went last by showing off Ice Punch and Aqua Jet. Barry, Brock, Ritchie, Gary, and Erika all entered the battle competition. Brock was battling against Barry, using Croagunk and Barry was using Hitmonlee. Ritchie was battling against a girl named Kira, using Rose (Swellow). Gary was battling against Erika, using Umbreon and Erika was using Venusaur. Everyone was having a good time. The final battle was against Erika's Espeon versus Dawn's Buneary.

Juan stated, "Begin!"

Erika commanded, "Espeon, use Swift!"

"Wee!" Espeon said.

Espeon opened its mouth and fired the yellow stars.

Dawn quickly commanded, "Buneary, quick use Ice Beam!"

"Buneary!" Buneary said.

Buneary opened its mouth and fired the freezing beam. The stars were frozen over instantly but Erika knew what to do.

She commanded, "Psybeam, Espeon!"

The psychic beam came out of Espeon's red gem on top of its head and fired it straight at the frozen Swift. It made fireworks. Everyone was surprised, even Dawn.

Dawn exclaimed, "How'd you do that?!"

Erika explained, "I studied your moves and Pokémon. A good trainer always observes their opponent."

Ash thought, _'Maybe that's why I lost to Tobias. I didn't observe him very well. How the hell could I be so stupid! I'll never get the Ketchum name off of the laughing list. I'm the reason we're still on it...'_ As Ash thought this, he made a fist and looked down. Misty perked up as she thought, _'What's going on with Ash? He's been really out of it lately...'_ Pikachu sensed Ash's sadness and got very worried. That's when he heard something.

"Rai chu rai!"

Ash spun around and saw Raichu running up to him.

Ash allowed the Electric type to enter his arms as he gushed, "Raichu!"

"Pika pika!" Pikachu said, happily.

...

_Team Rocket Headquarters_

Meanwhile, Giovanni was watching the battle between Dawn and Erika from their spy camera that Domino had set up there. He really couldn't trust Jessie, James, and Meowth with this important mission. There was a lot at stake like nine year of research and suffering. This had to work. Zeger came into the room with Cassidy, Butch, and Silver.

He stated, "We are all set to go."

Cassidy added, "Annie and Oakley are ready to go as well."

Butch added, "As is Domino."

Silver commented, "We're all ready, father."

Giovanni nodded as he commented, "Then let's get this started right now, Dr. Zeger."

Zeger nodded as he pressed a button on a computer. At Mt. Coronet, the receiver that Silver had placed there suddenly turned on. The other receivers in the Johto, Hoenn, Unova, Kalos, Alola, Orre, Almia, Fiore, and Oblivia also went online. Once all of the receivers were online, they sent a yellow beam up into the heavens, looking like Raichu's Thunderbolt. _'Thunderbolt'_ hit the sky above and clouds started to gather less than thirty seconds later. The cloud looked like normal rain clouds but then the rain started to produce purple rain. Some of it hit the plants below, the others went into the rivers, and the others went into the caves. The rain even affected the skies and the outer atmosphere. Rayquaza, the Sky High Pokémon, roared as it started to feel something wrong. Deoxys, the DNA Pokémon, also felt it.

From the oceans, the water Pokémon felt the change. Kyogre, the Sea Basin Pokémon, felt it. Deep below, Lugia - the Diving Pokémon - felt it too. There were many Pokémon affected but it seemed that only the wild ones were getting affected.

Zeger stated, "Seems that it is working, Giovanni."

Giovanni replied, "Good, that means that we can start capturing them."

Domino came in, panting and swore, "Damn it... Damn it..."

Silver questioned, "What's wrong with you?"

Domino shook her head and explained, "Not what's wrong, what's right. We found a trace of Mew and Mewtwo."

Everyone present seemed surprised. The Team Rocket members effected by Mewtwo's mind wipe the second time, remembered everything - by pure accident - to do the potion that Zeger once gave everyone. Ever since, they knew that Project Shadow would get the Genetic Pokémon back on their side. Zeger noticed the lake trio: Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie, were also getting effected.

Butch pointed out, "But sir, won't that alert those kids?"

Giovanni smirked evilly and replied, "That's what I'm counting on."

With that said, the rain continued to come down - until eventually it was filling rivers and streams. It even filled some ravines. All of the elite Team Rocket members saw everything that they worked for coming into the light. Zeger was pleased. Giovanni just kept quiet as he watched what was happening. He was rather pleased too, most Pokémon were Shadow Pokémon right away. Legendaries, however, were putting up more of a fight - especially Mewtwo. But that's what he wanted. He wanted the Chosen One to come...

...

_Pastoria City_

Suddenly, during the match, Dawn screamed out in pain. Piplup got worried automatically, knowing the scream.

"Pip, pip lup!" Piplup squeaked, worried.

Kenny asked, worried, "Dawn, what's wrong?!"

That's when Brock and Ash also screamed out in pain.

"Pika pi!" Pikachu cried out, also worried.

Gary asked, "Ash, what's wrong?!"

Erika asked, "What in the Distortion World is going on?"

Ritchie seemed unsure but he knew that there was something wrong. Paul knew it too as did Barry and Ranee. Paul thought, _'Damn it, I shouldn't care. This is none of my business.'_ Barry looked up and saw that it was raining.

He asked, "Hey, when did it start raining?"

Ranee shrugged, "A few minutes ago."

Ritchie stated, "Perhaps this has something to do with the way the guys are acting."

Misty was beyond worried, "Ash..." Misty took his wrist and felt herself transported somewhere else. She looked around and saw that she was in a weird dimension. She asked, "Where am I?"

That's when she heard Ash's voice, "Mist?"

Misty spun around and saw Ash floating there behind her. His body outline was going blue as he hovered there.

Misty gasped as she questioned, "Ash, what's going on with you? Why are you glowing and floating? What's happening?"

Ash sighed as he explained, "You see, I'm connected with Azelf, the being of willpower. I think Azelf is trying to warn Dawn, Brock, and me about something."

She asked, "Are they connected to Azelf too?"

Ash shook his head and answered, "No, Dawn is connected to Mesprit and Brock is connected to Uxie."

Misty asked, curious, "And the blue outline?"

Ash looked down at his own body and saw it.

He looked surprised as he started to ask, "Is this what I think it is...?"

A very familiar voice stated, _"Yes, Chosen One. It is your aura."_

Ash and Misty looked around, knowing the voice.

Misty questioned, "Was that Mewtwo?"

Just then, all of their friends appeared in the weird dimension.

Brock asked, "What's going on?"

Erika explained, "I think we're in between dimensions."

Gary nodded as he added, "Psychic types sometimes create this to protect themselves."

Ritchie questioned, "But why is this happening?"

Paul answered, "I'm not sure."

The same voice stated, _"It is happening because I need your help."_

Ash was worried as he asked, "Mewtwo, where are you?"

Mewtwo's voice answered, _"There's no time to explain, Ash. But Project Shadow is going down. You must return home, Chosen One. We're all counting on you."_

Ranee yelled, concerned, "Whoever you are, you're in danger, leave where you are before you are caught!"

Suddenly, the dimension collapsed as everyone was returned.

"Pika pi!" Pikachu cried out, worried.

"Rai chu rai!" Raichu added, worried.

"Piplup!" Piplup said, worried.

"Wee!" Espeon added, worried.

Erika hugged her Pokémon, Dawn hugged her Pokémon, and Ash hugged the two Pokémon.

Gary turned to Ash and asked, "What in the Distortion World is aura?"

Ash grimaced, his secret was out.

...

_Wishmaker1028: And this chapter means that we are getting into the adventure. Ash is the Chosen One and has his aura. Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


	12. Chapter 12

_Pastoria City_

Ash sighed, he knew that he would eventually have to tell his secret. Brock and Dawn were the only ones that really knew. Brock knew about the adventure that he and Ash had in the Tree of Beginning with Sir Aaron's Lucario. That was where Ash learned that Ash was a descendant of Sir Aaron. (May and Max knew that as well.) Dawn knew he had aura for when they helped out a special Riolu that knew Aura Sphere. But he had no idea how to tell everyone else all of this.

Ash took a deep breath and stated, "Alright. I'll tell you..."

Everyone looked at him interest. Ash looked over at Brock, whom gave Ash a nod. It was time. Ash told everyone everything about Sir Aaron and his aura plus about the special Riolu, even about Riley. Misty was in shock afterwards. Her secret crush was an aura guardian?

Erika started to say, "What in the Distortion World..."

Gary interrupted, "I agree, that is absolutely crazy."

Ranee shrugged, "Anything is possible."

Paul stated, "That is true."

Ritchie pointed out, "Well no matter of that right now. We need to find Team Rocket Headquarters."

Dawn protested, "But that could be anywhere!"

Barry added, "That is a good point..."

That's when Brock started to get an idea.

Brock stated, "Yes but there is a way we can find headquarters with the help of Pikachu and Raichu."

"Pika pika," said Pikachu.

"Rai rai," added Raichu.

Kenny asked, "What do you mean by that, Brock?"

Everyone smiled but Erika, who was looking very confused like the two Mouse Pokémon. Ritchie looked over at Brock.

He asked, "Do you think it will work?"

Brock answered, "Only one way to find out."

Paul stated, "Our Pokémon should be in on it too."

Barry added, "Yeah, or at least one of our Pokémon apiece so we don't tip off Team Rocket that it is a trap."

Gary replied, "Actually, that's not a bad idea."

Dawn turned to her friends and responded, "I'm sure that Buneary would love to go wherever Pikachu goes."

Upon hearing this, Pikachu actually blushed.

Barry stated, "Hey that's an idea! And Hitmonlee can help!"

Ranee stated, "I'm sure that my Ninetales can help too."

Kenny added, "And my Floatzel."

Erika commented, "You guys are getting me worried but if we need Pokémon to help, I'll choose Espeon."

Ritchie sent our Cruz (Pupitar), Dawn sent out Buneary, Barry sent out Heracross, Brock sent out Happiny, Barry sent out Hitmonlee, Ranee sent out Ninetailes, Kenny sent out Floatzel, Ash let Pikachu go over with Raichu, Misty sent out Corsola, Gary sent out Umbreon, and Erika sent out Espeon. All of the Pokémon played together, to make it look they weren't expecting anything. The trainers were waiting in the Pokémon Center, nervously and worried. They weren't too sure that it was going to work. However, just when they were starting to have doubts, Team Rocket's Meowth balloon was over the horizon.

...

_In the skies, over Pastoria City_

Jessie was looking out from high in the air with her binoculars, looking around for the twerp's Pikachu. They didn't have much time left, if they knew the twerp, he would be going to a new region soon. She looked over at James from the corner of her eye. Once upon a time, they were feared throughout Kanto. They were good but now they were jokes. Literally. Every time they went to headquarters after coming back from a new region, they were laughed at for not doing the mission that they gave themselves eight years ago. They weren't respected in the least not even by Cassidy and Butch anymore. Not that Jessie really cared, she really hated Cassidy. James felt the same about Butch, they all had been rivals since their training days with the bright future at their feet. But it was all yanked away that night at the Viridian City Pokémon Center eight years ago by a badly injured Pikachu on a badly burnt bicycle.

Ever since, they followed the twerp. They knew every companion that the twerp had ever travelled with and it wouldn't be long before that things would change again. She couldn't help but wonder, _'Doesn't that kid even see the red headed twerp?'_ She shook her head, scolding herself for that. She couldn't think like that. She thought, _'I can't believe it. I'm actually wondering about what is going on with the twerp personally. He does jump around from region-to-region and doesn't even go back to see his old friends. It's stupid. It's like he's on a mission.'_ Unknown to Jessie, James was thinking the same thing. Meowth was too. Somehow, someway, the three Team Rocket members thought of the twerp as apart of the family. Even though he blasted them often, they were always there for him whenever he needed them and vice versa. James turned to Jessie and took a breath. She perked up and looked at him.

James stated, "I remember during the Lugia incident in the Orange Islands, we were willing to risk everything to help the twerp save the world."

Jessie replied, looking down, "I remember that too."

Meowth responded, getting in the conversation, "That was cause we didn't want the world to end, even if we did survive. We didn't care, if we were going down, we were going down as heroes."

James nodded as he said, "Yes, Meowth, that's exactly my point."

Jessie looked at him and asked, "What do you mean, James?"

James answered, "Jessie, I mean we are better off on the side of good than evil."

Meowth was about to pounce but that's when he realized something. For the first time, James was right. Meowth was about to say something but that's when he saw something through his binoculars. He saw Pupitar, Buneary, Heracross, Happiny, Hitmonlee, Ninetailes, Floatzel, Pikachu, Raichu, Corsola, Umbreon, and Espeon all playing with no trainers around.

Meowth commented, "Hey bingo! Twerp Pokémon ahoy!"

...

Back on the ground, our heroes were hiding and waiting for Team Rocket to come. They all had rented Pokémon hot air balloons. Ash, Misty, and Brock were in the Pikachu hot air balloon. Erika, Gary, Ritchie, and Barry were in the Eevee hot air balloon. Paul, Ranee, Dawn, and Kenny were in the Piplup hot air balloon. They were all ready to go and follow Team Rocket. Dawn turned to the skies and saw the Meowth balloon coming down from the heavens as the purple rain continued to fall. The purple rain was just like regular rain but no one knew its true nature.

Dawn asked, "You really think this is gonna work?"

Paul answered, "Those three are idiots so we might as well get ready."

Ranee stated, "Something about this purple rain is creeping me out."

Kenny replied, "Yeah, I'm getting that too."

Barry yelled, "I'm so gonna fine those three for being so slow!"

Ritchie responded, "Be patient for the love of Arceus. It's just like fishing."

Misty commented, "Yeah, with our Pokémon as the bait."

Ash held her and promised, "I don't like it either, Mist, but we've got to find out what's going on."

Just then, Team Rocket took the Pokémon. They pretended to struggle a bit - to make it look like that they didn't want to be caught. Team Rocket fell for it.

Brock commented, "Looks like we're gonna take off soon."

Erika stated, "Let's get ready!"

Gary replied, "Right!"

As soon as Team Rocket's balloon was in the skies, the other hot air balloons followed behind secretly. The clouds were a dark purple color and the wild Starly attacked the balloons out of nowhere with strange moves. Ritchie took care of them with Sparky (his Pikachu). Once the Starly were gone, Ritchie turned to Sparky.

Ritchie complimented, "Nice job, Sparky!"

"Pi pika!" Sparky said.

Ranee reached into her pouch and threw out a Pokeball. Out popped an Ampharos, the Light Pokémon. Ampharos seemed to have barked lightly. Paul looked at it and then Ranee. She shrugged.

She commented, "Just in case Sparky goes down and we need another Electric type."

Dawn stated, "The way these Pokémon are acting is so weird. All of our Pokémon are fine."

"Pip lup!" Piplup squeaked.

Kenny reasoned, "Maybe this purple rain is effecting them."

Erika stated, "That is possible."

Gary questioned, "But what is this rain?"

Ash shrugged and answered, "No idea but we'll find out sooner or later."

Misty looked around in the skies as she stated, "Seems like we might be flying for awhile, Team Rocket is still ahead of us slightly."

Brock responded, "Then we might as well get comfy..."

...

_Wishmaker1028: I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! Hoping to update more frequently. Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


	13. Chapter 13

_In the skies_

As the three hot air balloons crossed the strange sky filled with dark purple clouds, several Starly started to attack their balloons. Ash, Misty, and Brock were still in the Pikachu hot air balloon. Erika, Gary, Ritchie, and Barry were still in the Eevee hot air balloon. Paul, Ranee, Dawn, and Kenny were still in the Piplup hot air balloon. Everyone was surprised that mere Starly were giving them trouble but what surprised them more was the strange attacks that they were using. Sparky (Ritchie's Pikachu) and Ranee's Ampharos were doing a fair job against them but they needed more help from more Pokémon.

"Pika pika..." Sparky breathed tiredly.

Ampharos seemed to have barked, a bit tired. Everyone looked at each other and nodded. They knew what they had to do and they had to do it fast before the air balloons got popped by the Starly. Gary got out a Pokeball and threw it. With a flash of light, Gary's Skarmory appeared.

"Skar!" Skarmory screeched.

Erika got out a Pokeball and threw it into the skies. With another flash of light, Erika's Altaria appeared.

"Alt!" Altaria hummed.

Paul got out a Pokeball and threw it into the skies, knowing that he had to help with battling the Starly that had gone mad. With a third flash of light, Paul's Honchkrow appeared.

"Honchkrow!" Honchkrow crowed.

Ash was about to help but that's when they heard a bird call. All of the Starly were repealed quickly as a Pidgeot flew alongside the Pikachu balloon. Ash couldn't believe it but somehow, this was his Pidgeot.

He breathed, "Pidgeot...?"

Pidgeot cooed as Erika, Gary, Ritchie, Barry, Paul, Ranee, Dawn, and Kenny all looked confused by this. However, Misty and Brock looked quite relieved.

Misty gushed, "I can't believe that it is your Pidgeot, Ash!"

Brock stated, "We haven't seen it since you left it to help out those wild Pidgey and Pidgeotto."

Ash looked at Pidgeot and stated, "Thanks Pidgeot and I'm sorry that I didn't come back for you like I promised but we do need your help as you saw."

Pidgeot cooed again, understanding the situation. The birds all flew out as Sparky got on Altaria's back and Ampharos got on Honchkrow's back. Ritchie smiled as he knew that Sparky would enjoy that flight. Barry got out a Pokeball and let out his Staraptor as Brock let out Croagunk. Misty let out her Corsola as it got on Pidgeot's back. Kenny got out his Alakazam who used Psychic to levitate it and Piplup into the skies. All of the Pokémon were ready for any type of situation, even the worse. Misty looked over at Ash and started to wonder if they were ready like their Pokémon. Erika couldn't help but frown as she remembered something.

...

-Flashback-

_As morning shone over Eclo Canyon, with not a single sign of life in sight, Gonzap stood on the hideout roof and looked over the desolate wastes like a king surveying his kingdom. Eventually, Gonzap went back inside to his office, where a large group of Snagems stood at attention in front of his desk. They were ready to do anything for their boss, without question or hesitation._

_Gonzap took his seat and stated, "Alright, boys. This is it. In less than an hour, the first group of buses will be rolling through, and that's where the big money lies. We've got people coming from as far as Hoenn, and that means all sorts of rare and powerful Pokémon. I want every Snag Machine armed and every Snagem ready to attack. We pull this off, and we'll have all the cash we need to retire in style."_

_"Yes, sir!"_

_Gonzap got out a clipboard and shouted, "Anyway, roll call!" Gonzap read off of it and added, "Wakin, Biden, Agrev! You're all here, of course. Jedo and Driton... check. Fuston here. Wes... Wes..." He looked around the room impatiently and asked, "Wes?"_

_Suddenly, an explosion rocked the entire hideout, sending Snagems running every which way in confusion and fear. After a moment, Wakin looked up._

_Wakin shouted, "That came from the garage!"_

_In an instant, Gonzap was leading virtually every Snagem in the hideout towards the garage. As they arrived, they saw what could only be described as intentional sabotage. Flames were burning madly. Various mechanical deviced were slagged beyond repair. All the Rumblers were completely totaled save for one as its unmistakable engine noise sounded from outside a large hole in the wall. Gonzap and his band dashed outside, just in time to see it down the canyon... plus its driver._

_One of them shouted, "It's Wes!"_

_Indeed, Wes had turned to wave at his ex-teammates._

_He shouted, "Thanks for the dirtbike, dirtbags!"_

_With that, his vehicle vanished from sight. As he reached the edge of the canyon, Wes reached for a detonator and hit the button, blowing the rest of the Snagem Hideout to complete pieces. With a laugh, Wes floored the gas and left Eclo Canyon, pausing only to steal a glance at a strange package that was sitting in the sidecar with his Eons. As the Snagems ran for cover from the debris and flames, Gonzap merely stood there, clutching his fingers and cursing a blue streak._

_Gonzap huffed, "You little... After all I've... I... You..." With a scream, the Snagem leader turned to his grunts. He yelled, "You four, put out the fires! Rest of you, salvage anything you can from the wreckage!"_

_Wakin ran up to him and yelped, "Gonzap, sir! You've got a call in your office. It's him..." He wiped his head in a fearful sweat and asked, "What do I tell him?"_

_Gonzap morosely replied, "Tell him... that we've got a problem." Gonzap then gritted his teeth in anger and added, "And I'm going to fix it."_

-End of Flashback-

...

_In the skies_

Erika sighed as she knew that she had to do something soon. She was afraid that she was going to expose her secret. Ranee had fallen asleep on Paul's shoulder, whom was blushing like mad. Kenny took Dawn's hand, making both of them blushed.

Erika turned to Kenny and asked, "When we get to our destination, can you help me with something?"

Kenny nodded and answered, "Sure, be happy to."

Dawn gushed, "We both will!"

Erika replied, "Thanks guys. I want to check on my hutch."

...

_Wishmaker1028: I hope everyone stays tuned! Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


	14. Chapter 14

_Viridian City, Kanto Region_

Ash couldn't believe that he and his friends were back in the Kanto region...yet alone the first city he was ever in during his travels. Remembering when Pikachu was in medical danger the day after his first day, Ash petted Pikachu with much love. Misty remembered that too, remembering how pissed off at Ash she was for frying her bike without knowing. To this day, she couldn't believe that Ash really saw Ho-oh. No one did. Well, Morty from Ecruteak City, Johto did. He didn't really believe Ash at first but after Ash helped save the crystal bells, he quickly changed his mind. Ash mused, _'A lot has changed since then.'_

...

-Flashback-

_Ash, just getting his first Pokémon: Pikachu, were not getting along. So Ash was dragging Pikachu along with a leash and rubber gloves. Ash wishes they could be friends, but Pikachu acts very aloof and openly shows his distrust of him. Ash thought, 'Did Dad have to go through this too? Guess I'll never know.' Anyways, Ash wants Pikachu to stay in the Pokeball, like the Pokedex says, but Pikachu shows that not all Pokémon like to stay in a Pokeball. So Ash takes the leash off of him in hopes of gaining his trust but all he gains is Pikachu running up a tree. Ash thought, 'Dad would be so disappointed...' Just then, a Pidgey interrupts them and Ash tries to catch it by throwing a Pokeball at it. However, it breaks out, and the pokédex informs Ash that most trainers use their own Pokémon to weaken wild ones for capture._

_With Pikachu being uncooperative, Ash has to tries to fight the Pidgey, but is easily beaten by a Gust. Both the Pokedex and Pikachu believe that Ash will never become a Pokémon master. In his frustration, Ash throws a rock at some Pidgeys. Ash thought miserably, 'I'll never be like Dad...' Unfortunately, while Ash is throwing rocks, he hits a Spearow who starts attacking them. Pikachu shocks it, which causes it to alert a whole flock of Spearows who begin pecking at Pikachu. Ash grabs the badly hurt Pikachu and is forced to dive down a waterfall to escape the flock. He is fished out, however, by a young girl named Misty. She tells him to get Pikachu to the Pokémon Center in Viridian City. Storm clouds gather as the flock finds them and Ash takes Misty's bike in order to get away, promising to return it some day. Unfortunately, he crashes it as the rain pours down, and both him and Pikachu are vulnerable. Ash asks Pikachu to get inside the poke ball so that it will be safe._

_Ash breathed, "After that, after that just trust me."_

_The young boy thought, 'This is it, Dad. I'm sorry I failed you...' That's when Ash offers his own body for the Spearow's in order to protect Pikachu. Pikachu sees the care Ash has and gains enough strength to perform a devastating Thunder attack which drives the Spearow's away and destroys everything in the nearby vicinity (including the bike). As the rains part and the sun comes out, a weakened Pikachu and surprised Ash realize they won. Just then, a mysterious golden bird flies over the rainbow to which the Pokedex informs Ash that there are many unidentified Pokémon in the world..._

-End of Flashback-

...

_Viridian City, Kanto Region_

Misty held Ash's hand while he was travelling down memory lane. Ash smiled at her slightly but Misty knew that he was in much thought. Misty thought, _'With good reason. We don't know what's happening here and we can't find out until we land somewhere. He's probably also thinking about avenging his father. Hopefully, the worst won't happen...'_ Brock looked over at Ash and saw that he was in much thought. He also saw Misty was a bit worried. Erika, Gary, Ritchie, Barry, Paul, Ranee, Dawn, and Kenny saw this as well. Erika's hair blew in the wind as she looked over at Gary.

Erika asked, "Do you remember what you said once about this town being totally evil?"

Gary answered, "Yeah but that was when we were kids. I never thought that I would be right."

Ritchie stated, "Looks like you are."

Barry questioned, being calm for once, "What in the Distortion World are we gonna do?"

Dawn explained, "The only thing we can. We make it up as we go along."

Kenny shook his head and commented, "Bad idea. We could get caught and then we wouldn't be able to do this."

Paul asked, "So what do we do?"

Ranee answered, "I say we get some costumes and go into their headquarters as them."

That's when Ash remembered, "Duplica..."

Misty perked up and questioned, "You think she can help?"

Brock stated, "It's a worth a try, Misty. She can help us better than anyone."

Ash took out his Pokegear, scrolling through his contacts.

...

_Nuvema Town, Unova Region_

A blonde 16 year old girl was walking around her hometown, rather bored. She was wearing a short sleeved white dress with an orange vest on, a green hat on her head, a green bag on her left shoulder, orange stockings, and yellow shoes. Her name was Bianca Bel and she was with a new friend of hers. The girl next to her was also 16 years old, had long dirty blue hair pulled back in pigtails, brown eyes, wearing a short sleeved red shirt with a yellow star on it, and brown pants with black shoes. Her name was Duplica Imite. Bianca smiled at her and all of the sudden, Duplica's Pokegear started to ring.

Bianca stated, "Sounds like someone is calling you."

Duplica replied, "Noticed."

Duplica then flipped open her Pokegear and saw the one person that she thought that she would never see again: Ash Ketchum.

...

_Wishmaker1028: Yes, I'm including Hypershipping into this plus pairing Ritchie with Duplica was just random (Random Shipping, haha!) Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


	15. Chapter 15

-Flashback-

_Ash, Misty, and Brock were continuing their journey when it began to rain. While looking for shelter, they stumble across an old house. Believing it to be deserted, they go inside. To their surprise, Ash's Pikachu is playing with another Pikachu. However, this Pikachu's face is weird, which leads to Brock thinking it is a new kind of Pikachu. Ash tries to capture it but a girl dressed as Ash appears and stops him. The girl introduces herself as Duplica and reveals that the Pikachu is her Ditto. Upon hearing Ditto can't learn any other attacks besides Transform, Ash becomes unconvinced of its usefulness in a battle. After had said that, Duplica challenges him to a battle. Ash chooses Bulbasaur and tries to attack using Razor Leaf, but Duplica's Ditto Transforms and wins using a Vine Whip attack. Later, Duplica explains that she wants to be a Ditto Master and a star, but she cannot because her Ditto is unable to mirror other Pokémon's faces for a strange reason._

_Whenever it transforms it still has the face of a Ditto, much to the disappointment of her audiences. Then Team Rocket appear and try to steal Ditto, in the hope that they can get it to transform into Dratini and present it to their boss as a legendary Pokémon. Using Weezing's SmokeScreen, they are able to escape with Ditto. Once they are away from the house, Jessie and James try to test Ditto's power by having it turn into a Dratini from a picture in a book that they have. But then, Jessie stops James and says that they should have a little bit of fun before handing Ditto over. She asks Ditto to transform into what a certain boy would look like if he were an adult, and pulls out a photo frame. James and Meowth then try to get Jessie to show the picture to them, but she refuses. Ditto agrees, and then a picture of a man with blue hair shows up with a Ditto's face._

_Now angry, Jessie commands Ditto to once again become a Dratini; she points to the picture of the Pokémon in the book. Instead, Ditto transforms into a book. Meanwhile, back at the mansion, Misty, Brock, and Ash are trying to cheer Duplica up. Ash then states about how a Trainer decides how a Ditto would transform. Pidgeotto and Zubat, who were on guard, return with news that they saw Ditto. Ash and friends decide to go and save Ditto. Team Rocket, still trying to get the Ditto to transform correctly, try to get it to change into Meowth. They yell at Ditto because its face doesn't look like Meowth's. They are angered when it is unable to change its face from its own. Eventually, they are able to threaten it into transforming correctly. Team Rocket is happy that Ditto can now transform correctly, and Meowth then asks Ditto to transform into Dratini, but they are then interrupted by Ash's voice._

_When Jessie and James hear this and turn around, spotlights appear over Ash, Brock, Misty and Duplica, dressed in Team Rocket uniforms. The four of them then say their variation of the Team Rocket's motto, much to the irritation of the real Team Rocket. Misty notes it was great to do the whole thing. Ash notes he had figured out that the reason why Team Rocket say their motto a lot was because it's fun. Duplica suggests they should all become actors and when they have a good laugh at this, Jessie and James become even more angry at this. Jessie states that their organization is not something to be made fun of, and also tells them that if they are going to imitate them, they should do it right. James then states to Duplica she got one part of the motto wrong saying that it is ignite not incite._

_The group of trainers demands Ditto back, but they are surprised when they see two identical Meowth. However, Duplica is happy that Team Rocket was able to get her Ditto to transform correctly. Team Rocket try to trick them by giving them the real Meowth and escaping in their balloon with Ditto. But Duplica says she can tell that Meowth isn't her Ditto, even though it looks identical to the other Meowth. She throws Meowth at the balloon, causing Team Rocket to drop Ditto. Duplica tells it to transform into a cannon and fire Pikachu at the balloon. After being hit by Pikachu's ThunderShock, the balloon bursts and Team Rocket are blasted off again._

-End of Flashback-

...

_Nuvema Town, Unova Region_

Duplica smiled at those memories as she saw Ash's face yet again on her Pokegear. Bianca looked over her shoulder to see who Duplica was talking to and smiled, in a teasing way.

Bianca teased, "Is that your boyfriend?"

Duplica turned red from the accusation and replied, "No, this is my friend, Ash Ketchum!"

Ash chuckled as he asked, _"Friend of yours?"_

Duplica answered, "Sorta. This is Bianca, she lives here in Nuvema Town. I'm all the way in the Unova Region!"

Ash stated, _"Oh wow, really? That's awesome! Thinking about going to Kalos after that?"_

Duplica shrugged and replied, "I don't know, probably if there is gonna be some Ditto there."

Bianca responded, "I still think you need more Pokémon than just a Ditto."

Duplica started to argue, "Oh yeah well you..."

Ash got in the middle of the two girls and commented, _"Duplica, Bianca! I usually don't break up cat fights but we do need help!"_

Duplica and Bianca perked up as they both asked, "With what?"

Ash chuckled a bit as he explained what was going on, remembering that Duplica was really good with disguises. She was just as good as Team Rocket (Jessie, James, and Meowth respectfully). Bianca turned to Duplica.

The blonde stated, "You should go, sounds like a real adventure."

The blue head replied, "I would like to go but your father put me in charge of you."

Bianca frown but then smiled as she pointed out, "Well, you don't want to leave me alone do you?"

Duplica groaned as Ash laughed. Suddenly, there was a shadow above of Duplica and Bianca's head, forcing Duplica to hang up on Ash. It was a long lizard with a flame on its tail. Duplica and Bianca perked up as the Pokémon landed in front of them and they saw two Pokémon like that. One had a pink ribbon on it while the other seemed to protect it. There was a girl on the Pokémon with the pink ribbon on it. Duplica looked at the mysterious girl. She had messy green hair pulled back in a ponytail, blue eyes, wearing red earrings, a red short sleeved shirt showing her bare midriff, short red shorts and red boots.

Duplica asked, "Who are you?"

The girl answered, "My name is Liza, I'm from the Charicific Valley and I'm a friend of Ash's."

Bianca questioned, bringing out her Pokedex, "And those Pokémon?"

Her Dexter chirped, _"Charizard, the Flame Pokémon. It is said that Charizard's fire burns hotter if it has experienced harsh battles."_

Liza stated, "The one with the pink ribbon is my Charizard. The one without is Ash's."

...

_Viridian City, Kanto Region_

Ash got panic when he and Duplica got cut off but went to the library with his friends. Kenny and Dawn seemed pretty determined to find out about the legend of Orre and more about Wes and his partner, Rui. Erika obliviously shivered from hearing the word _"Orre"_ again after so long. Even though the Pallet Town residents knew about the legend, they refused to tell their friends, to preserve Erika's feelings. Since her brother was killed over there by the Shadow Pokémon, she vowed that she would go to Orre once enough time passed and once she was strong enough to face the Shadow Pokémon. Erika thought, _'Looks like that time has come.'_ With that, she got out her Pokegear and scrolled down to a special number. Once she saw the contact that said _"Professor Kane, Orre Region"_ , she pressed the button. It ringed, it ringed, and it ringed. Finally, someone answered. It was the voice of a girl.

She said, _"Hello, big sister! Jovi, I mean, I missed you!"_

Erika giggled as she replied, "Hey, Jovi. Been a long time. Guess old habits die hard, huh?"

Jovi giggled herself and confessed, _"I really do it in Michael's honor, Erika. I know we were separated when we were kids since our Dad left and Michael and I sent to Orre with our Mom..."_

Erika cut her off, "Jovi, I know. I told everyone that my parents were still together and that Michael went over there to help out. It was to help my own breaking heart. Dad was in really bad shape when he returned to raise only me."

Jovi sighed sadly, _"Erika, I don't know why you feel sorry for the man let alone find a way to lie about him and Mom."_

Erika confessed, "I guess it makes it easier for me since the Shadow Lugia incident. I still can't believe that thing killed Michael."

Jovi replied, _"Believe it and Jovi had to wait five whole years before trying to do something and Jovi failed!"_

Erika responded, "Which leads me to this call, Jovi. In the honor of Michael and to get vengeance for you and him, I want to take that snag machine for myself. It's time I do the Jones legacy like I was supposed to."

...

_Wishmaker1028: A little confusing with Erika's story? Well, things will be cleared up soon, count on it! Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


	16. Chapter 16

_Years ago_

Lily Jones smiled at her three children. She never felt so blessed in all her life to have three beautiful children. The first child was a girl, one with a darker brown hair than what she had. Other than that, she looked a lot like Lily - especially with her green eyes. Her name was Erika and she was 7 years old. The second child was a boy, he had messy red-brown hair, and green eyes. His name Michael and he was 5 years old. And finally, there was the baby off the family. She had light blue hair and green eyes. Her name was Jovi and she was going to be 1 year old soon. Finally, their father returned.

Erika and Michael both gushed, "Daddy!"

With that, she hugged her father tightly as Michael did the same - a bit more excited than his sister. Their father had snow white hair, dark sandy eyes, and a rough and tumble look. Lily smiled at the sight.

She said, "Welcome home, Travis."

Travis replied, "Thank you, Lily."

And the rest of the night was all about family. While all of the three kids were sound asleep, Travis and Lily were wide awake in their bed. They had a big secret. Travis' real name was Wes as Lily's real name was Rui. They had come to Kanto to have a fresh start in their lives after the events of Orre. Eight years had passed since then. Wes and Rui were worried that Cipher would kill them both for ruining the Shadow Pokémon plan. Taking Wes' last name of Jones, the two had married as Travis and Lily. One year later, they had Erika, even though they were not planning on having kids. Once they learned that the trait of being able to see Shadow Pokémon could not be passed on, the two continued to live their married life. Eventually, they had Michael and then Jovi. Wes kissed Rui's forehead, a bit worried. Rui noticed this and looked up at him.

Rui asked, "Wes, what's wrong?"

Wes sighed, "Everything, Rui. Cipher isn't gone and they are planning something huge to revive the Shadow Pokémon."

Rui stated, "Oh, how awful..."

Wes replied, "I want to tell David or Andrew what's going on but Cipher is onto me. Rui, I don't want to do anything that you might hate but you need to take Michael and Jovi to Orre."

Rui questioned, worried about her oldest, "What about Erika?"

Wes answered, "She's got three years before she can go out on her journey. We can pretend to separate in front of the kids. You can take Michael and Jovi to Orre. They'll like it their and Michael reminds me so much of me."

Rui was in shock as she stated, tears in her eyes, "I don't know if I can do this. I do love you and I want to keep the kids save. But I want to keep all of the kids safe."

Wes replied, "I know and I agree. But Erika has friends here. She always wanted to start her journey in her home region. We can come up with something to tell them sooner or later but Michael is the one to carry on the legacy."

After much debate, Wes and Rui agreed on the terms that they would separate the kids. Even though it pained them, Wes went into hiding as he asked two of his old friends to watch over Erika. Andrew and Olivia agreed, taking in the seven year old girl. Erika was confused but being with her friends everyday, she soon forgot what happened, much to Wes' delight. Rui noticed that with Michael and it was like everything was undone. Or rather, they thought it was undone. Once Michael was 10 years old, he had gone out to take on the Shadow Pokémon. Evolving his Eevee into a Jolteon, Michael went all the way.

Almost.

When Michael got to Citadark Isle to take on Greenvil, the head of Cipher. He captured all of the Shadow Pokémon all but one. XD001, Shadow Lugia, was the last Pokémon that Greenvil had. And the last Pokémon that Michael to battle with was none other Jolteon. And Jolteon was getting tired. Michael looked at Greenvil, making a fist. Jolteon's attacks had barely made any damage on Shadow Lugia. Michael grabbed the Master Ball that Professor Krane had given him. Greenvil noticed this and quickly did something that shook Orre to its core.

He commanded, "Shadow Blast, XD001!"

Shadow Lugia opened its mouth and fired the powerful blast straight at Jolteon. Dropping the Master Ball, Michael ran towards Jolteon.

Michael yelled, "NO!"

As soon as he yelled that, Michael's feet were running over to Jolteon and jumped in front of the Shadow Blast. While any Pokémon can take any attack (except an attack that they are weak to), shadow attacks were much more powerful and hurt regular Pokémon more. However, the shadow attacks can also hurt humans badly and this was defiantly the case tonight. When the flash of light was gone, Jolteon was a red color and Michael was gone. Greenvil thought, _'How odd, a Jolteon's shiny color is a very light green.'_ That's when he realized what happened. Jolteon actually started to cry that Michael...was dead. The Lightning Pokémon didn't even realize that it was now coated with Michael's own blood. Greenvil had to turn away from seeing the sight. Jolteon looked itself in a pool of water, wondering what was wrong and that's when it saw that it was indeed coated with Michael's own blood.

The Lightning Pokémon barked like a dog does when it had been abused badly and ran as fast as it could away from Greenvil. As it ran, its paw prints that it left behind were even coated in blood. It wasn't until Cipher took over Orre that everyone learned that Michael was dead. Jovi couldn't believe it and that's when Lily told the truth. Professor Krane, the professor that was falling for Lily, was surprised. But none more than so than Jovi. She demanded to go back to Kanto and she did as she got to know Wes, who was in much shock that he was wrong about Michael. Erika, who was in Sinnoh at the time, was in shock too. Michael was dead and Jovi was home. Erika rushed back to Pallet Town as fast as her Staraptor could take her. She spent most of her training of the Sinnoh League in Kanto with Wes. Rui even came home. Jovi was beyond angry at both of them but Erika, being more mature, forgave them. Wes was surprised.

Wes asked, "You forgive us? Just like that?"

Erika answered, "I always knew that there was a good reason you and mom pretended to separate. Looks like I was beyond right. Listen Dad, you and Mom did what was needed to protect us kids and yourselves since Mom can see the aura of Shadow Pokémon. You just thought that Michael was the one to be the snagger since he was so much like you in the past."

Wes sighed as he looked at the picture of his only son and stated, "I really did too..."

Espeon and Umbreon, Wes' old battling Pokémon and the family protectors felt bad for their son (Jolteon). They had several other Eevee, one of which was under Erika's belt and fully evolved as an Espeon. Wes looked over at Jovi, who barely said a word since the whole thing, was petting one of the Eevee in the backyard.

Erika advised, "Give her time. She'll come around."

Wes questioned, "Think so?"

Erika answered, "Know so. She'll carry on the legacy and stop Cipher for good."

Wes stated, "That I do not know. She'll be too blind by Michael's murder to do so..."

...

_Wishmaker1028: Well, that chapter in itself explains everything - I hope. Hopefully you readers now fully understand Erika's sad backstory. I rather enjoyed this but the murder of Michael was just...wow. Poor Jolteon... Anyways, please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


	17. Chapter 17

_Viridian City, Kanto Region_

Just like Wes predicted, 5 years later, Jovi tried to take down Cipher but lost badly against Greenvil. Erika was the last one left of the three kids. Erika sighed, as she waited for Jovi to put Professor Krane on. And in all honesty, she was worried that her friends (Gary in particular) would never talk to her again if they knew the truth about her and her family. Finally, a man came on the line. He had soft brown hair, brown eyes, wearing a short sleeved light green undershirt, a white lab coat, light brown jeans, and dark brown shoes.

He asked, in a strong British accent, _"Hello? Erika, is that really you?"_

Erika smiled as she answered, "Yes, Professor Krane! It's been so long!"

Krane chuckled and started to say, _"Too long. Not since we learned the truth about your mother..."_

Erika smiled sadly now as she interrupted, "Aw, professor. That was so long ago, almost 7 years."

Krane responded, _"I know, I am over it. I'm just worried about Lily, er, Rui."_

Erika reassured, "Mom's just fine. She's still with Dad in Undella Town in the Unova Region, spending a few weeks there on their second honeymoon."

Krane smiled and commented, _"Now those two deserved a good rest after those two incidents, that's for sure..."_

Erika giggled as she asked, "Professor, I hate to interrupt this whole catching up moment but I need a favor. Do you still have Dad's old snag machine?"

Krane perked up and answered, _"Well, yes. We had to improve it since it was barely working when we found it."_

Erika stated, "Good cause I need it and the Aura Reader."

Krane questioned, _"Goodness, Erika. What on earth for? You aren't think about taking Michael's place, are you?"_

Erika explained, "I have to. We have a situation here in Kanto and I am the only one with the knowledge to work the old snag machine. I have to do this, professor. It has to be me."

Krane asked, _"What's the situation? What in the Distortion World is going on?"_

Before Erika could answer, the television had a news report. There on the television was Rhonda, the reporter from the Sinnoh region.

She reported, _"This news flash just in direct from Sinnow Now, several wild Pokémon have gotten much stronger and are now attacking innocent humans with strange attacks. This bizarre even is not only happening in our home region of Sinnoh but is now happening in all of the regions around the world, including Kalos and Unova. Trainers are advised to take extreme caution on their travels and travel in groups until all of the champions can come together into a meeting."_

With that, the report went out as Ash, Misty, Brock, Dawn, Kenny, Paul, Ranee, Ritchie, Barry, and Gary all looked at each other in stunned reactions. Erika saw this and knew that she could no longer keep her secret. Even though she hoped that Duplica and Bianca were on their way, she didn't know what the champions were going to do.

Krane called out, still on the line, _"Erika? Erika!"_

Erika perked up and mumbled, "I'm on my way."

Just like that, Erika decided to sneak out, gaining the attention of Gary - and Ash. Ash turned to Gary.

He said softly, "You better go with her. We need everyone for this."

Gary nodded as he replied, "I hear ya. Now's not the time to remember her brother."

Just as he said that, Gary followed Erika outside. Misty turned to Ash, a bit concerned. Ash kissed her forehead reassuringly, even though he was worried about Erika too.

...

_Indigo Plateau, Kanto Region_

Ever since David Ketchum's death years ago, Lance had to ask Prima to be the Champion in the Johto region and asked his long time friend, Josie (an alternate for Prima) to be in the Elite Four. Josie was a nice girl and gratefully accepted. She was about Lance's age, had short red hair, and wore a short sleeved red laced shirt, a brown long skirt, and sandals. Anyways, Lance was gathering all of the champions from each region. The Kalos region was not represented since their champion could not arrive in time for the meeting. Prima was the first to arrive since Johto wasn't as far.

Prima greeted, "Hello, Lance."

Lance gave her a small smile and half-heartedly said, "Prima."

Prima sensed this as she came over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. It was firm yet gentle. Lance looked up at the red haired beauty.

She pushed her glasses up and stated, "Things will be alright soon."

The Dragon master questioned, "Think so?"

Prima explained, "Within time. Let some music help you."

With that, she brought out her radio and turned into Imagine Dragons, _"Radioactive"_. The radio stations decided to play some music while they waited for news from the champions. So Prima and Lance started to dance.

...

Meanwhile in Hoenn, Wallace was about to board the plane. That's when he heard a voice.

"Wallace! Wallace!"

Wallace spun around and running towards him was Steven Stone, the former champion of Hoenn.

The two of them had competed for the title and Wallace had taken the match easily. Steven finally stopped running when he caught up to Wallace, quickly catching his breathe.

The Water master asked, "Steven? What are you doing here?"

The Steel master panted as he answered, "I might not be a champion anymore but I'd like to go and help you."

Wallace didn't have time to think, his plane was due to take off in five minutes. Finally sighing, the Water master merely nodded in agreement as the Steel master followed him on the plane.

...

In Sinnoh, Cynthia was with her butler Jarvis and the two were taking a private plane out to Kanto. Cynthia was in much thought, thinking about the time that Ash and his friends helped her with saving the world, not to mention the lives of human and Pokémon alike. Cynthia thought, _'If this is as serious as I think it is, then we might need Ash and his friends to help.'_ Jarvis said nothing but knew that Cynthia was in deep thought.

...

In Unova, Alder was rushing to catch his flight as well. His feet were going faster than his body was, it was rather awkward. But he managed to catch his flight, with Skyla as the pilot. Skyla was the Mistralton City's gym leader, loving air flight and flying type Pokémon. Skyla was also the Nimbasa City's gym leaders, Elesa's, best friend. Anyways, she smiled at the rather busy champion.

She greeted, "Hey welcome aboard, Alder!"

Alder saw her and stated, "Skyla, good to see you! Are you taking me to Kanto?"

Skyla replied, "Sure am so get strapped in and get ready for take off!"

Alder did just that, strapping himself in tight as Skyla took off after a few minutes.

...

Eventually, all of the planes landed in the Kanto airport (practically at the same time). Wallace and Steven walked out of their plane and saw Cynthia with Jarvis and Skyla with Alder. It was rather awkward but there was a girl standing there, clearing her throat. She was a typical ten year old girl with long blonde hair, brown eyes, wearing official league clothes.

She greeted, "Welcome champions alike to the Kanto region, my name is Belle. If you will get your luggage and follow me, Lance awaits!"

Following the advice of Belle, the champions all grabbed their bags and followed Belle. Curious as to what was going on, Jarvis and Skyla followed the champions to the Indigo League where they got the most surprising sight. The song had just ended and there was Lance, nose-to-nose with Prima. And both of them were blushing the minute they saw that they had company.

...

_Wishmaker1028: Well, there you have it guys! Lance was dancing with Prima! Maybe that will be a pairing too, (hint, hint). More romance, more things going down, and more...well...stuff! Anyways, please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


	18. Chapter 18

_Pokémon HQ Lab, Orre Region_

Erika got off her Altaria after the long flight. Unknown to her, Gary had followed Erika on his Fearow. His Fearow was rather strong but since most of the flying wild Pokémon were acting strangely, the flight was rather long and tiring. Erika's Altaria felt the same way, panting. Erika recalled the Humming Pokémon. Gary did the same with the Beak Pokémon and that's when he saw that Erika had seen him. And she looked pissed.

She asked, placing her hands on her hips, "What in the Distortion World are you doing here?"

Gary answered, retorting back, "Well, excuse me, I thought we were supposed to stay with the team. Not go off and do what miss bossy pants wants to do!"

Erika yelled, "What did you just say?!"

Gary and Erika both stared at each other with that same fire in their eyes. Erika was about to ask Gary for a Pokémon battle but instead, she got a surprise. Gary was holding a Pokeball in his hand. He showed it to Erika and while the oldest Jones child thought that he was going to ask for a battle, he smirked instead.

He questioned, "What is this?"

Erika looked at Gary and answered, with a question of her own, "You are asking a seasoned veteran trainer what a Pokeball is? And your supposed to be a researcher?"

Gary pointed out, hissing, "I know what a Pokeball is, damn it. It is used to capture a Pokémon. But what else can it do besides that?"

Erika rolled her eyes and replied, "It can send Pokémon out to battle, duh."

Gary responded, "Right and it can also send Pokémon out to help their trainers like you just did. A Pokeball, like Pokémon, are the trainers responsibility. They have to be held accountable for what happens to their Pokémon at all times."

Erika started to say, "Now hold on a minute..."

Gary interrupted, "But no where does it say to hide secrets from people you've known for years! Pokémon don't lie, Erika. But apparently people do."

Erika looked over at Gary, seeing the hurt in his eyes. Apparently, Gary had overheard her conversation with Jovi and connected the dots. Erika sighed sadly, knowing that she had been caught.

She stated simply, "You overheard us."

He commented, "I shouldn't even have to eavesdrop, I should know everything about you, Erika. Apparently, I was wrong."

The brown hair girl couldn't argue him but the time she tried to come up with something, Jovi came running over. Professor Krane was with her. Erika looked and forced a smile. She knew that once she went back to Kanto, there was no way of facing Ash or even Gary ever again. Jovi hugged Erika's waist and giggled.

Jovi gushed, "It's so good to see you, big sis!"

Krane greeted, "Welcome back to Orre. And I see you brought your boyfriend."

Erika was too sad to argue with Professor Krane and simply nodded. Gary was also too mad with Erika to point out her and Professor Krane's mistake. Instead, the Pokémon researcher looked at the senior Pokémon researcher.

Gary questioned, "So what's this all about Professor?"

Krane started to explain, "Well, it started when Michael was 10 years old and had only an Eevee on his team..."

...

_A few years ago, Orre Region_

Within the hold of a giant rock hand, crowds cheered as two large Pokémon faced off against each other: a Salamence and a Metagross. The Salamence hovered in the air, circling the Metagross menacingly, while the Steel/Psychic type watched its opponent warily from the ground. Neither made a move to attack the other. One of their Trainers was Michael Jones while the other was a man clad in blue.

Michael decided to break the stalemate and yelled, "Salamence! Use Earthquake!"

The Dragon type Pokémon instantly responded, slamming itself to the ground to create tremors that shook the stadium and sent shards of rock flying upward.

The man commanded, "Levitate, Metagross!"

The Metagross pulled its legs up and hovered above the ground with its magnetic abilities, which allowed it to avoid the worst of the quake, though some of the displaced rock still hit and damaged its metallic skin. Michael gritted his teeth in frustration; had the attack truly connected, it would have dealt major damage to the opposing Pokémon.

The man then commanded, "Follow up with Sludge Bomb, Metagross!"

Michael yelled, "Fly Salamence!"

The Salamence took to the air again to increase its chance of evasion, circling high above the Metagross's head in dizzying, confusing patterns. The Metagross followed it into the sky with its powerful magnetic abilities, trying, but failing, to keep up with the agile Dragon Pokémon. Purplish sludge built up in its mouth, and when it calculated the chances were best to hit its opponent, it fired. The Salamence instantly rose in altitude, but it wasn't fast enough. The Sludge Bomb exploded in the center of its chest, painting a good portion of its azure and crimson scales a dark purple and causing it to roar in pain at the force of the impact. Michael winced; his opponent had gained the upper hand, and it wouldn't be easy to turn the battle around. At least the Salamence hadn't been poisoned.

Michael decided to salvage the battle and called, "Metagross may be powerful, but it's not too agile! Outmaneuver it; frustrate it!"

The Salamence shook off the remaining effects of the bullseye Sludge Bomb it endured and wheeled away from the floating Metagross, circling it in erratic patterns.

The man responded, "Follow it and keep using Sludge Bomb!"

The Metagross pursued the Salamence and shot more batches of sludge at it, but the speed its magnetism provided was no match for the speed of the Dragon Pokémon. Michael grinned as the Salamence dodged the attacks and goaded the Metagross into following its movements aggressively. After Michael told it to dive, the Salamence shot toward the ground, the Metagross following it in a plummet. At the last possible second, the Salamence pulled out of the dive, its wings straining to keep it from plowing headfirst into the ground. The Salamence barely got out of the way in time before the heavy Metagross slammed into the ground. Metagross was unable to generate a magnetic field strong enough to negate the massive amount of g-forces its accelerated fall had generated.

Michael quickly commanded, "Use Earthquake again while it's in the ground!"

He was taking advantage of the opening during the time it would take for the Metagross to recover from the impact and work itself free from the ground, as it had buried itself a few feet deep. The Metagross trainer knew it would be disastrous if the super-effective Ground-type move impacted, especially after the Metagross had already sustained damage from its collision with the ground and the debris from the first Earthquake.

The man yelled, "Get out of there, now!"

The Metagross was fast, but the Salamence was faster. In the few seconds while orders had been issued, it had retreated to a great enough altitude that it was able to instantly slam into the ground hard enough to create an Earthquake. The Metagross, unable to propel itself from the crater in time, took the full force of the super-effective attack. The ground caved beneath its enormous weight, and it sunk further into the ground. Debris pelted its metallic hide from above, partially obscuring its form in rubble. The Metagross struggled for a few seconds afterwards, but its energy had been drained by the Salamence's attacks, and it was unable to create a magnetic field of enough force to extract itself from the crater. It collapsed, unconscious. Its Trainer wordlessly called back the Pokémon, and he fell to his knees in defeat.

A voice stated, "All right, Michael. This will do for today!"

Michael felt like he was falling – a familiar side-effect of returning to reality from a simulation – and the stadium and the opposing Trainer faded away to be replaced by a lab room filled with computers and wires. He stood in a Sim machine, and wires were connected to his body.

The technician chattered, "Yes, sir! That was a well-played battle! Michael, your battle skills have improved by an amazing amount. I mean, it was impressive the way you handled that big Pokémon with aplomb. You took command of it as if it were the same as your Eevee. Don't you think it's time that you consider raising other Pokémon besides your Eevee?"

The technician as he chattered, removed the wires. Michael winced as they were detached, as the adhesive used to keep the wires attached to him made their removal painful. It was kind of having several small band-aids ripped off.

Michael grinned and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly as he replied, "Thanks for the ego boost, but I'd really rather just stick with Eevee for now."

The technician shrugged as he annotated a recording of the battle and muttered, "Whatever floats your boat."

It was a typical day for Michael but it was about to get very _un_ typical.

...

_Wishmaker1028: Things are getting interesting that's for sure! Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


	19. Chapter 19

_Citadark Isle, Orre Region, Few years ago_

Jovi didn't know how many times she took the keys from the Robo Kyogre just to come to the final resting place of her older brother. Sometimes she was alone. Sometimes she would bring a friend or Erika. But this time, Jovi Jones, was all alone. The atmosphere was quiet, like it always was. After Michael was killed, Cipher at least had the dignity to leave the area so they could not disturb the final resting place of the oldest son of Wes Jones. The blue haired girl walked up to the makeshift shrine that she had made over the years. She saw some paw prints that went around the shrine, red paw prints. Jovi perked up. Was there wild Pokémon here now? And if so, why were the paw prints red? As Jovi placed a flower at the make shift shrine, she heard some whining. Jovi looked around and at first, saw nothing. But when she looked behind her, she saw a red Jolteon. It looked a bit timid.

Jovi breathed, "A red Jolteon?"

A familiar male voice stated, "Not just any Jolteon... It's Michael's Jolteon."

The youngest Jones child got out a Pokeball that contained her Minun and threw it, not paying attention to who was behind her. In a flash of light, the Minus Pokémon appeared.

"Mi mi!" Minun said, threatening.

The person behind her was none other than Eldes, the oldest son of Greevil. He was rather tall, had short red hair, had dark glasses in front of eyes, and was wearing a long sleeved red robe with a gray design around it. Eldes knew that Jovi was scared and wasn't looking at him.

Jovi demanded, "Go away!"

Eldes stated, "I do not wish to cause you any harm, Jovi."

Jovi perked up and finally looked at Eldes. She looked at him, her heart skipping beats. Of course she remembered the man in red from five years ago. The man that protected her from the Shadow Zangoose Zook had but was trying to stop her brother from stopping his father. (It was just complicated as that sounded.) Anyways, Jovi took out another Pokeball, not exactly trusting Eldes.

She threatened, "Take a step closer and you'll know the power of my Plusle and Minun!"

"Mi, mi!" Minun agreed.

Eldes saw that the girl was not standing down and finally replied, "Fine then let us have a double battle."

The red haired man brought out two Pokeballs and threw them. In two flashes of light, a Gengar and a Snorlax appeared. Gengar is the Shadow Pokémon, a Ghost/Poison type. Snorlax is the Sleeping Pokémon, a Normal type. Jovi threw out her other Pokeball and in a flash of light, a Plusle appeared. Plusle is the Plus Pokémon, an Electric type like Minun.

"Pla pla!" Plusle said.

Snorlax just snored at the _'threat'_ as Gengar seemed rather bored. Jovi stood strong, ready for battle. However, Gengar and Snorlax tore threw her two Pokémon with the greatest of ease. Forcing to recall both of her Pokémon, Jovi realized that she wasn't that strong at all. Eldes recalled his two Pokémon as Jolteon whimpered, going over to Jovi. She looked at the red Jolteon. The Lightning Pokémon licked her face, remembering the young girl.

Eldes stated, "Told you that this was Michael's Jolteon. Stained forever in its former trainer's blood."

...

_Pokémon HQ Lab, Orre Region, Current Time_

Jovi clutched the Pokeball that contained her Jolteon. It was Michael's at one point but after that day, it agreed to be her Pokémon. The youngest Jones girl had decided to become an Electric Pokémon expert, charging into battle with Cipher with only Electric type Pokémon. And that caused her to lose badly to Greevil. Ardes actually laughed at her failure as Eldes felt bad for the young girl. Jovi went outside as Erika was fitted with the snag machine. Currently on her party (besides Plusle, Minun, and Jolteon) were: a Magnezone that she purified from a Magneton, a Lanturn that she also purified, and a Rotom that she also purified. All of them were really strong but they couldn't handle the Shadow Pokémon that Greevil had, especially XD001, Shadow Lugia. The Shadow Pokémon had improved and had gotten stronger over time but none of them were perfect like Shadow Lugia.

...

_Citadark Isle, Orre Region, Few years ago_

After Jovi lost to Greevil, Eldes took her back home when no one was looking. The girl was a bit dirtied up and a few scars on her body but her Pokémon were healed up while she was in the dungeon. She kept quiet most of the way, replaying the whole battle in her head and winced at every mistake she made. Her feelings got in the way and Jolteon not listening to her during the battle didn't help at all. Eldes drove the Robo Kyogre and looked over at Jovi.

He asked, "Jovi?"

"..."

He tried again, this time a bit softer, "Jovi."

"..."

He got a bit annoyed and asked, "Aren't you going to say anything?!"

She looked up at him and finally snapped, "Don't have yell at me, Eldes!" There was a quite pause between them before Jovi softly admitted, "I screwed up."

Eldes sighed as he told her, "You did, you didn't consider other types to use. Plus you and Jolteon both wanted vengeance for Michael's death."

Jovi replied, "I know you're right..." She then pouted, "But your brother didn't have to laugh at me."

Eldes pointed out, as softly as he could, "He's evil, Jovi."

Jovi huffed, "Doesn't excuse him for not having respect."

Eldes shrugged as he commented, "Guess he doesn't have any."

Jovi looked at him again, this time the sadness in her eyes and questioned, "What are you gonna do now? Your brother and father are bound to find out about this..."

Eldes was quiet for a moment. He knew that Jovi was right. He knew that they would find out eventually. But he was starting not to care.

Finally he explained, "I will continue to help you and your family without anyone on my end finding out. Even if they do, I don't care. I stopped caring the night Michael was killed."

...

_Wishmaker1028: Alright, that's the end of chapter 19. Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


	20. Chapter 20

_Indigo League, Kanto Region_

Lance and Prima both blushed, quite embarrassed since the music was still playing and they were still close together after their dance. Belle, Wallace, Steven, Cynthia, her butler - Adam, Alder, and Skyla were standing there with shocked expressions. Justy, the pre-gym leader in Phenac City - Orre region, came into the room - having been asked earlier by Prima to come. Justy looked just as shocked as everyone else. Skyla studied the pre-gym leader. He had long purplish-black hair, gray eyes, wearing a short sleeved blue undershirt, a lab coat, brown pants, and black shoes. Skyla actually blushed.

Justy asked, "What's going on here?"

Everyone kept quiet, there was not much to say at all. Even though there was a hint that Lance did like Prima for than a friend, Lance wasn't going to say otherwise especially to the others. Prima liked Lance too but was afraid to tell him because of the way she was built. Finally, Cynthia decided to say something but she made sure that she stayed calm. If she didn't, this was going to south very fast.

Cynthia stated calmly, "We would like to know the same thing, Lance."

Lance defended, still blushing, "Nothing is going on."

Skyla decided to take this in another direction and commented, "I believe we're here for a reason."

Alder stated, "Skyla is quite right, we're here for a reason."

Prima cleared her throat and added, "Yes, to stop this problem."

Adam questioned, "But how?"

Wallace added, "Adam has a point, we don't know where, who, what, how, where, when, or why."

Steven replied, "If you want my honest opinion, we need to find the source of this strange rain."

Belle asked, "But where do you start?"

That's when Lance brought out his laptop and started typing. Everyone looked up at the projection screen as Lance showed them a picture of David Ketchum. Belle, Justy, Alder, Skyla, Cynthia, Adam, Wallace, and Steven all looked at it very confused. Prima took Lance's hand into hers and gave it a very gentle squeeze. Lance gave her a small smile, it was time to tell the story.

Lance explained, "Nine years ago, there was a Pokémon Master that defeated me. His name was David Ketchum. David had a very special bond with his Pokémon and eventually won against me - his last Pokémon was a Raichu. When David was about to be inducted into the world as the Pokémon Master, Andrew - his best friend - came in with a report that Team Rocket was stealing Pokémon in Vermillon City. Andrew and David insisted that we go and check it out."

Skyla asked, "So what happened?"

Lance explained, "When we got there, Giovanni arrived. We battled hard but then Giovanni brought out Nidoking that used Earth Power on Raichu. Nidoking roared and it slammed down its hand. The earth beneath us as the powerful Ground type move went straight for David. He didn't have a chance to react for the next thing we knew, he fell off of the pier he was standing on and into the water. David could swim, no problem. Or at least, that's what we thought. David wasn't coming back up for air."

Cynthia spoke up, "Wait. Ketchum? Do you mean...?"

Lance merely nodded, tearing a bit. Everyone exchanged surprised looks, wondering if they were thinking the same thing. Belle, Alder, and Skyla were the only three people that looked truly confused.

Alder asked, "What are you guys talking about?"

Skyla questioned, "Yeah, what's going on?"

Belle asked, "Yeah, explain please?"

Wallace explained to them what was going on, telling them about Ash. Cynthia joins in and told them about what happened at Mount Coronet a few weeks ago. Prima nodded.

She stated, "Ash, according to a legend in the Orange Islands, is the Chosen One."

Justy pointed out, "But can we really ask one trainer to do that?"

...

_Pokémon Research HQ Lab, Orre Region_

The purple rain had not let up at all since Erika and Gary had arrived to the Orre Region. Gary had kept with constant contact with Ash on his Pokegear and told him about what happened with Michael. Ash was in shock that there was more than Erika in the Jones family. Gary made a fist, more than angry. Ash noticed this and decided to calm him down.

Ash commented, _"Gary, calm down. Erika had a reason for not telling us, I'm sure."_

Gary stated, making a fist, "Her brother was freaking killed and Jovi is now an Electric type trainer!"

Ash questioned, _"What's so wrong about that? We had to lie about a lot of things, Gary. Things I wish we didn't have to..."_

Gary answered, still mad, "Well she shouldn't have to be forced to do something she doesn't have to do! This is my Erika and she's not gonna do something she doesn't have to!"

Ash caught this and corrected, _"Um, your Erika? I thought you were talking about Jovi!"_ As Gary realized his mistake, he blushed feverishly. Ash chuckled and added, _"Listen to me, Gary. Erika is the only one that can do this. She knows the technology and knows how to snag Shadow Pokémon. We have to let her take the lead so we can stop Team Rocket's plan - once and for all."_

...

_A few years ago, Orre Region_

Michael jogged across the hallway of the lab and entered an office with a bookshelf overflowing with books standing against the back wall and a desk covered in paper sitting in front of the bookshelf. It was a shortcut from the Sim room to his bedroom in the Lab. The Lab itself was made of two buildings – the residential/office building and the building that held the actual laboratories – and this particular office was connected to one of the offices in the residential building. Michael took advantage of this to avoid using the winding path he'd have to take to get into the residential wing otherwise. Normally, this office was empty, its owner downstairs working on some pet project of his. However, to Michael's irritation (as he technically wasn't allowed within this office without good reason after he'd unintentionally destroyed some important research notes with coffee), this time two scientists were present, chatting.

Professor Krane greeted, "Hi, Michael. Have you finished training?"

Lily gave Michael no chance to respond as she questioned, "Michael, this is the director's office. Did you want to pay a visit to Professor Krane?"

Krane laughed and pointing out, "You don't need to be that stiffly official, Lily!"

Lily started to protest, "But..."

Krane added, "Oh, yes. I've heard your Pokémon battle tutor singing high praises about your battling skills, Michael. That's outstanding! I sure don't think I'd stand much of a chance against you."

That's when Krane laughed again at the pleased blush that spread across Michael's face at the compliment.

Lily grumbled, "I wish everyone wouldn't drown them with such gushing praise all the time. My son and daughter will become spoiled rotten."

Krane pointed out, "There's nothing to worry about. Both Michael and Jovi are wonderful kids."

Lily frowned, looking somewhat troubled as she turned to Michael and asked, "That reminds me... I don't think I've seen Jovi since lunchtime. Michael, I hate to bother you, but could you go find Jovi for me?"

Michael groaned, "Again?"

Jovi always ran off to play and explore, no matter how many times she had been reprimanded for disappearing and forbidden from doing so again. He was usually the one sent to find and retrieve her, to his continual consternation.

Because of the complaint and resentful look on her son's face, she added, "Michael, I think you already know, but several research projects are in their critical phases in this lab. That's why your mother can't afford to take any time off right this instant. So please, honey, will you go find Jovi for me?"

Michael sighed, resigning himself to the tedious task, "Alright…"

Lily smiled, "Thank you. I'm counting on you. I don't think she could have wandered off too far, but just in case, check outside, too."

Krane, understanding Michael's annoyance, piped up and commented, "I'm sorry, Michael. After five long years, this project is finally on the verge of coming together. But for that to happen, we can't do without your mother's expertise." He paused for a moment before adding, "By the way, I left a P*DA in your room, Michael. Go check it out."

His eyes lit up as he asked, psyched, "Really?!" He'd wanted a P*DA ever since the newest, multi-purpose version had come out on the market! He added, "Thanks, Professor!"

Krane grinned and explained, "I'm sure you already know this, but P*DA stands for Pokémon Digital Assistant. It's very useful – it can be used for email, among other things. I'm sure that you'll find its many features helpful. It's also quite easy to use. I'm sure you'll have no trouble figuring it out."

Michael already knew all of this, but he still exclaimed, "Alright!"

He dashed excitedly through a doorway on the other side of the room which led to another office, ignoring Krane's amused chuckle and his mother's call to slow down. The lab tech inside the office glanced up, startled, but Michael paid no attention to him. After exiting a tube elevator and running through a few rooms, Michael entered his bedroom. Upon seeing the clutter – clutter that hadn't been there the last time he'd checked – he groaned.

He exclaimed, "How many times have I told her to keep her hands off my stuff?!"

He reached over to tidy a stack of books that Jovi had been rifling through. His desktop computer was logged onto the web, and the site that displayed was a virtual Trainer simulation. Apparently, the Trainer was a fan of pink, Plusle, Minun, and Skitty. Michael exited out of the website and then made his rumpled bed. After dumping all of the things that didn't belong to him in Jovi's room next door, Michael turned his attention to the silvery device he'd seen on his desk. Michael turned it over in his hands to fully examine it. He'd seen models in commercials, but this was the first time he'd actually held one in his hands. It was slightly textured, instead of being completely smooth as he'd imagined it to be.

Tossing a Pokéball in the air and releasing the Pokémon inside, he asked, "Eevee, what do you think of my new P*DA?"

The brown, fox-like creature jumped on the desk and sniffed it curiously.

"Vee eevee..." Eevee said, deadpan.

Michael scratched the male Eevee behind the ears absentmindedly. Suddenly, the P*DA started beeping and vibrating, startling both Trainer and Pokémon. Michael pressed a button to open the device, and the metal shifted to reveal two screens, one of which displayed his Trainer information and several different applications. A mail symbol flashed at the bottom of the screen, which led Michael to assume that he'd received an email. He tapped the symbol, and the second screen displayed an email—it was from Professor Krane; he recognized the email address. The email read, _'If you're reading this email, then you must have obtained the P*DA. Go ahead and try out its many features. By the way, Adon was playing hide-and-seek with Jovi. Why not have a chat with him?'_ Michael mentally sighed. Running around inside the maze-like lab was the last thing he wanted to be doing when it was such a perfect day outside to be training Eevee, but fear of his mother's wrath overruled his desire to disobey her.

After clipping his black bag with red trimming on his belt, which contained three Potions and two Antidotes, and slipping the new P*DA into his pocket (and making a mental note to toy with its features later), Michael turned to his Pokémon.

He told the Normal type, "So, we need to find Adon. Eevee, can you help me locate him?"

"Vee!" Eevee agreed.

...

_Wishmaker1028: Okay, that's end of chapter 20! Hope you guys enjoyed this. Without further ado, please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


	21. Chapter 21

_Pokémon Research HQ Lab, Orre Region_

Professor Krane made the final adjustments to the snag machine. Gary was watching from afar, Jovi standing next to him. While Gary was still upset, Ash's words kept echoing back at him.

_"She had no choice, Gary. Just like I didn't. You have to let it go and just forgive the past. If you don't, you won't have a future."_

Gary couldn't help but wonder when Ash got so wise. Then again, wisdom did come with age. Jovi was staring at him for the longest time.

Finally Gary snapped and asked, "What is your problem?"

Jovi stepped back a bit as she answered, "At this moment, you!"

Gary huffed, "Well excuse me for existing!"

Jovi teased, "Your excused!"

Gary froze for a minute. While Erika was watching them from the corner of her eye, Gary knew in an instant that Jovi was just like her big sister. Gary sighed, seeing Jovi puffing her cheeks in frustration.

Gary whispered, loud enough for her to hear, "You are just like your big sister."

Jovi hissed, "Well of course. And I'm not letting any wanna be professor hurt her!"

Gary stated, "Hey, I would never want to hurt your sister."

Jovi warned, "I'll be holding you to that. We both will."

With that, Jovi left the room quietly. It didn't take Gary to figure out what Jovi meant. Michael.

Erika's voice snapped him out of his thoughts as she asked, "Gary?" Gary turned, seeing that she was wearing a modified snag machine. While it was her father's, the fit was perfect on her right arm. (Probably with the adjustments that Krane had made on it.) She stated, "She didn't mean anything by it."

Gary nodded as he replied, "I know." He paused for a moment, letting an uneasy silence settle between them. He finally whispered, barely audible, "I'm sorry."

Erika looked at him confused as she started to say, "Sorry about what? I can't change what happened to Michael and you can't either..."

Gary sighed, "Not what I meant." Erika shot him another confused look as he explained, "I'm sorry about being upset at you for lying about your family. I realize now that you really had no choice in the matter and if you did, you would have told Ash or me."

Erika softly smiled as she kissed his cheek. Gary blushed a bit, his eyes completely on her.

She whispered, "Thank you."

Gary blushed and was about to return her kiss when they heard Professor Krane clearing his throat. They quickly broke it up.

Krane told Erika, "Now the snag machine is completely operational but we need to test it."

That's when Jovi came back in, walking with her Plusle and Minun. Behind them were Eldes and a Tropius. Erika's Aura Reader went nuts, identifying Tropius as a Shadow Pokémon.

Erika asked, "That Tropius is a Shadow Pokémon?"

Eldes nodded as he answered, "I managed to, uh, borrow it from my brother."

Gary accused, "More like stole it."

Jovi hissed, "Hey, his brother totally deserved it and more."

Eldes started to nag, "Jovi..."

Krane broke them up as he told Erika, "This Tropius is very timid. But wants to revert back to its normal state. We think it is a good test subject for the snag machine."

Erika asked, frowning a tad, "Since it is very timid, do I have to battle it? I don't really want to scare it further."

Krane nodded in agreement as he answered, "Yes, I don't see anything wrong with that."

Erika took a breath as she turned to Tropius. She got a snag ball ready. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the Pokémon. The Grass/Flying type looked at her, no malice in its eyes. Erika threw the snag ball at it.

One shake.

Two shakes.

Ding. It had been caught. Erika let out a breathe that she didn't know she was holding.

...

_Viridian City, Kanto Region_

Ranee was on her Pokegear. When Ash had told them that Gary and Erika didn't really want to fly back on their Pokémon, she knew she had to call in her old friend.

A female voice broke her out of her thoughts and asked, _"What's up Ranee?"_

Ranee answered, "Aria, I need a favor."

Aria was older than Ranee, she was twenty years old. She ran a hot air balloon company in Foretree City in the Hoenn Region. An avid and frequent flyer, obtaining her pilot's license from the gym leader herself, Winona. She had short hot pink hair, blue eyes, wearing a white pilot's scarf around her neck, a red short sleeved blouse, a Pretty Wing necklace, white caprice, and pink sneakers.

Aria questioned, _"Like what?"_

Ranee answered, with a question of her own, "Well, would you be up to join an adventure?"

...

Holly still couldn't believe what was happening. This purple rain had driven the young Pokémon trainer inside, where it was safe. Her Wingull sat on her shoulder with a frown.

"Win..." The Water/Flying type said.

Holly looked at her Pokémon as she gently petted it and tried to reassure, "Don't fret, Wingull. It will be over soon. I'm sure the Champions are working on it."

"Wingull..." Wingull said, unsure.

Holly frowned as she looked back outside again. She knew Wingull was right. The Champions were taking their time with this matter and she had no clue as to why. No one did. It was as if they were waiting.

She whispered, "But waiting for what? A hero?"

"Win." Wingull said, shrugging its wings as it did.

Holly added, "But they are the heroes. They do everything they think is right to protect the citizens. I mean, look at where we are. The Kanto region. They have all kinds of trouble with Team Rocket as we did with Team Galactic."

"Gull..." Wingull deadpanned.

Holly denied, "I'm not trying to convince myself." When she saw Wingull's 'don't give me that' look, she groaned. She stated, "You don't know anything, Wingull. I was right about a lot of things and one of those things was leaving the Tag Team Battle early." She paused, a frown on her face as she added, "I did my research. Brock is top class cause he was a gym leader of Pewter City, here in Kanto."

"Gull?" Wingull asked, surprised.

Holly added, "Yeah and he's a lot like me. He wants to be a good breeder. But he can't do that and be a gym leader at the same time." She paused as she now looked confused. She wondered, "How did he wind up traveling anyhow?"

Before her Wingull could squawk, a familiar man stepped near her. And it was none another than Brock. Holly blushed upon seeing him, knowing that she was overheard. But instead of a frown, he had a smile on his face.

He told her, "You better sit down. Cause this has to do with a trainer and his Pikachu."

...

_Wishmaker1028: Thought I make this chapter to tie up a few loose ends from the original story. I had Holly appear out of nowhere, no reasoning of why Aria came to help, and more. So here is the chapter to clear that all up. Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


	22. Chapter 22

_Viridian City, Kanto Region_

As our heroes were waiting for Erika and Gary to return, Ranee was training hard with Misty and Dawn. Dawn was panting pretty hard as Piplup looked at its trainer, a bit worried. Dawn petted the water type, in an effort to tell him that she was okay. But Piplup didn't buy it. Dawn looked up and saw that Ranee was battling Misty's Corsola with her Absol. Absol had a rather shiny coat, which meant it was at a high level. Misty saw this too and knew that she had to take the battle now before the battle got worse.

Misty commanded, "Corsola, Spike Cannon!"

Ranee countered, "Absol, Dark Pulse!"

The two attacks collided, creating an explosion and a rather large shadow above them. Ranee, Misty, and Dawn all looked up and saw a hot air balloon. The hot air balloon was in the shape of Altaria with Erika, Gary, and Aria in the basket.

Dawn breathed, "What in the world?"

Aria gushed, smiling, "Hey there!"

Gary added, "We're back!"

Erika got out of the balloon, with a metallic device on her right arm and said, "And we've got the snag machine!"

Misty took a look at it and asked, "So that's the snag machine?"

Dawn commented, "What a strange device!"

Ranee stated, "But at least it will help us defeat Team Rocket." She then turned to Aria and added, "Thanks for getting them."

Aria replied, smiling, "Your welcome!"

Gary questioned, "Would you like to help us?"

Erika added, "Yeah, we could use the help."

Aria shrugged and explained, "I can only do aerial assistance since I'm not a trainer."

Just then, Brock and Holly came outside and saw the hot air balloon. Brock had told Holly (mostly) everything.

Brock asked, "Wow, we're using hot air balloons again?"

Holly looked confused as she asked, "Uh...what am I missing?"

Dawn looked confused at seeing Holly. The others were too but for different reasons. Brock made a gester that he would explain later to them. He turned to Holly.

He asked, "Would you come with us?"

Holly questioned, "To where?"

Ash came over with the other members of the team and explained, "To stop that purple rain. Since we don't want to attract too much attention, small teams are needed. Besides, I called in another favor."

Erika perked up as she asked, "From who?"

Three familiar voices spoke, "From us."

The group turned to look. That's when they saw Jessie, James, and Meowth.

Dawn blurted out, "What is Team Rocket doing here?"

Ash explained, "They want to help. They believe that Giovanni, Silver, and Zeger went too far this time."

Erika blurted out, "Silver is apart of Team Rocket?!"

Jessie replied, "That twerp from your past is actually Giovanni's son."

Erika shivered from the worst memory in her life, not believing that Silver was Giovanni's son. Gary looked over at Erika, seeing that she was in disbelief. She had been awfully quiet since hearing that. Erika finally looked up at Ash.

She commented, determined, "Do what you want but leave Silver to me."

...

After getting their Pokémon rotated and ready for battle, our heroes went into the Team Rocket HQ. With Duplica's costumes and Jessie, James, and Meowth's help, the heroes got into the inner sanctuary of the HQ. Erika had a hard time hiding the snag machine since the costume was so tight on her, showing off her midriff. The other girls were like that as well, feeling a bit insecure. Ash held Misty close to him, making her blush more. Ash blushed too, remembering the last time she wore this costume. But he had to admit that the dress she wore when she was helping Melvin with his magic show made her look so beautiful. Ash was red with a blush as he thought, _'Now that was a memory.'_ Finally, they saw Giovanni and Silver with Dr. Zeger. Giovanni looked at Jessie, James, and Meowth - looking quite annoyed.

Giovanni hissed, "What are you three still doing here?!"

James replied, "Just reporting in with the new recruits, sir."

Silver raised an eyebrow in suspicion and asked, "We have recruits, father?"

Ash spoke coldly as he could, "Yeah, we came to help and make sure no twerps interfered with the shadow plan."

Misty caught on to Ash's idea and added, coldly, "Yes but before we do, we would like to know what the current situation is."

Zeger explained, "Well, with the shadow projector on top of Mt. Coronet in Sinnoh, it covers the entire world. It can't be shut off until it completes the mission of turning every wild Pokémon in the world. Then we're going to have some operatives head into the field and capture any Pokémon worth our wild like the legendary Pokémon."

Dawn asked, the best she could, "So what if those twerps figure all of that out and go up to Mt. Coronet?"

Silver hissed, "I don't think we should tell you that!"

Jessie responded, hissing herself, "Listen, these trainers are willing to help us. Either you tell them what they want to know or they walk away."

Meowth added, "Then they tell dose twerps what your plan is. And you don't want that, do you?"

Giovanni commented, "They have a point, Silver. All our operatives must know our plans."

However, bad luck was on the heroes side as Psyduck decided to pop out of its Pokeball, causing immediate suspicion. Things got even worse when Cassidy identified the Pokémon, remembering it from their day care scam years ago.

Bianca stated, "I think we're in trouble..."

Barry hissed, "You think?!"

Paul commented, "Guess we got no choice now."

Ranee added, "Yeah, we have to fight!"

Ritchie turned to Ash and the others and said, "Ash, you go to Mt. Coronet and stop that machine! We'll handle things here!"

Ash nodded, much as he wanted to protest, and took a small group with him. That small group included: Misty, Brock, Holly, Gary, Erika, Jessie, James, and Meowth. The rest stayed back and begun to battle the Team Rocket operatives.

...

_Outside of TR Headquarters_

Meowth managed to get the Meowth balloon and as Aria started to fly in, since Ranee called her and informed her of the situation, a Flamethrower caused her to fly back up again. The group turned and saw Butch and Cassidy standing there.

Cassidy hissed, "Where do you think you are going?"

Jessie hissed, throwing her Pokémon into battle, "Away from you!"

James also hissed, throwing his Pokémon into battle, "And saving the world!"

Meowth added, "Meowth, that's right!"

Butch hissed, "Oh shut up!"

Ash looked on sadly as he whispered, "Team Rocket..."

Misty yelled, getting in the Meowth balloon, "Ash, get in!"

Ash quickly got into the basket, feeling guilty about leaving his friends and Team Rocket behind. As the balloon started to take off, Raticate tried to take a Razor Fang to it. But Aria's balloon quickly blocked it. It was going to be a battle and race to the finish.

...

_Wishmaker1028: Well, we're gonna be going into the finale soon and hopefully ending this story soon! Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


	23. Chapter 23

_Mt. Coronet, Sinnoh Region_

Brock manged to land the balloon on top of the mountain and the group got out. Much to their dismay, a Lugia was guarding the machine. Erika's skin turned pale as Gary perked up. He looked between the Lugia and her.

He asked, "That's the Lugia, isn't it?"

A voice answered, "It sure is and it will stop you all forever."

The group took a look and saw that during the confusion, Giovanni and Silver managed to sneak away.

Ash stated, "I'll deal with you myself, Giovanni."

Misty started to say, "Whoa but Ash..."

Ash interrupted, "I have to, Mist. He killed my father! This is for my father!"

All of the sudden, Ash was surrounded by a blue light - the sign of his aura. Holly was amazed at this.

Holly asked, "What's happening?"

Gary explained, "You see, Ash has aura that was inherited from Sir Aaron. Apparently, his father had it too. Look at Raichu, he isn't surprised at all!"

What Gary said was true. At Ash's feet were Pikachu and Raichu. Pikachu looked beyond worried while Raichu looked very calm. Silver was also surprised by this, since he was the other trainer originally in the group.

Silver questioned, "Dad, what's happening?"

Giovanni snarled, "His aura is reacting to his feelings. Since he is mad, his aura is too."

Erika perked up at this chance and got the snag machine ready.

She added, "And it keeps you boys distracted!"

With a swing of her arm and the others running over to the machine, a Pokeball with yellow aura was thrown at Lugia. For those moments, everything seemed to go in slow motion. The ball hit Lugia on top of its head, enveloping the beast. Misty, Brock, Gary, and Holly got to the machine and looked all over it - trying to find something to destroy it.

One shake.

When the four of them saw nothing to destroy the machine, not even a self-destruction switch, Giovanni quickly realized what was happening and threw out Nidoking. Ash reacted, telling Pikachu to use Volt Tackle. Pikachu was just about to do that but Raichu jumped in front of Pikachu and started to charge at Nidoking with speed and electricty cackling around its bigger body.

Two shakes.

Ash realized what Raichu was doing and before he could react, Raichu had stopped Nidoking's Earth Power - slightly. The rest of the Earth Power actually destroyed the machine, causing the signal to stop going into the skies above. Shortly after, the purple rain let up and the purple storm clouds went away. However, Raichu was down on the ground, badly hurt.

Three shakes. Caught.

Erika jumped up in glee as Silver groaned in frustration. Giovanni then realized that not only was Raichu down and out but so was Nidoking. The heroes ran over to Raichu, who too badly damaged for anyone to do anything and passed on - to join its real trainer and friend in the heavens above. Silver and Giovanni fled, leaving the heroes behind on a chilly mountain top.

...

Back on the ground again, Ash had his hat covering his eyes as he carried the dead Raichu in his arms. No one said anything upon seeing the Electric type. They just all joined Ash as they walked down to where the hot balloons were. As they all flew off towards the horizon, the sun setted behind them, reassured that it would rise in the morning.

...

_A few months later, Pallet Town, Kanto region_

Jovi was on top of the hill over looking Pallet Town. She was with her father and mother, whom were returning from Unova.

Jovi commented, "It sure is good to be home again."

Wes admitted, chuckling a bit, "I'm just glad that Erika was able to catch Shadow Lugia."

Rui tapped on his shoulder as she pointed to a plaque and asked, "Was that there before?"

Wes and Jovi turned their heads and saw what Rui did. They all walked over to it.

Wes read aloud, " _'Welcome to Pallet Town, the proud prideland to the fallen Champion - David Ketchum, his loyal Pokémon Raichu, and a fallen son - Michael Jones. May their souls watch over these prides to come.'_ "

Rui breathed, the tears in her eyes, "Oh they didn't have to do that..."

Jovi had a big smile as she gushed, "Oh that's awesome! Let's go see Mrs. Ketchum!"

Wes and Rui both nodded in agreement as they walked to Delia's place. Delia was cooking and with her, was not only Mr. Mime - but all of Ash's Pokémon.

Delia gushed, "Wes! Rui! Jovi!"

She hugged her friends and they all returned the hug. As they laughed and carried on, Bulbasaur watched from a distance. He smiled upon seeing Delia so happy. The expansion of Oak's lab allowed the Pokémon Ash rotated from wherever he was back to Pallet Town to relax and be with Delia. Ash didn't want his Mom to ever feel lonely anymore. And the system worked. It made both the Pokémon stronger and Ash too. As each day went by, each of the friends started to settle down. Brock was first, starting his career as a Pokémon Doctor with Holly as his nurse (and Croagunk as a chaperone). Kenny and Dawn went to Hoenn after their Johto run. The two had become _"King and Queen of Sinnoh"_. Ritchie and Duplica went to Alola together. After much persuasion from Ritchie, Duplica became a performer. Barry travels with Bianca in her home region of Unova. The two of them are well known for bumping into people first and apologizing later.

Paul and Ranee decided to stay in Veilstone City to help Reggie with his Pokémon breeding. They are discussing going to Kalos in the spring. After serving jail time (and getting time off for good behavior); Jessie, James, and Meowth have settled in Saffron City where their home is. They plan to marry in summer. Gary and Erika are on Cinnabar Island, for a little rest and research. Gary can never take a break, much to Erika's dismay. Aria has returned to Hoenn, her hot air balloon business busier than ever before. She hopes to find the right one soon. Skyla and Justy are actually in Johto, exploring more of the Pokémon world together as a couple. Prima and Lance are planning a wedding themselves. After finally confessing, they are planning their wedding in Kanto. As for Ash and Misty...

...

_Wishmaker1028: Cliffhanger! I'm evil, I know. But I wanted to keep the number of chapters I had in the original so I had to stretch it out. Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


	24. Chapter 24

_Lumoise City, Kalos Region_

Ash was sitting at a cafe with his old friend, Serena. Ash was telling her all what had happened previously. Her mother, Grace, had become a Rhyhorn Rider. So Serena moved away before Michael was killed. Once she had heard that he was gone, it made her frown in sadness. Sure Ash was nice to her during summer camp but that was only one day. She felt the tears entering her eyes as she tried her hardest to blink them back.

But Ash saw them as he asked, "Serena? Are you alright?"

Serena sighed sadly, "Honestly? I used to have a bit of a crush on Michael. He was just so cool. I know he was younger than me but I couldn't help it."

Ash wisely stated, "We can't help the ones we get attracted to. We are just drawn to them by pure chance."

Serena looked up at him and asked, "You really believe that?"

Ash answered, "One hundred percent." He paused, seeing her face and questioned, "Don't believe me?"

Serena threw her hands up in defense as she defended, "I do, I just want to talk about something else right now."

Ash asked, "Like what?"

She answered, after a minute, "Like, I can't believe that Erika finally caught Shadow Lugia."

Ash agreed, "It was rather unbelievable."

Pikachu was perched on his right shoulder.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu said.

Serena smiled and then remembered, "Wait, you told me everything about what happened to the others... But what about Misty?"

Before Ash had a chance to explain; a familiar female voice exclaimed, "There you are!"

Ash gushed, "There she is!"

Serena spun around and saw a girl their age standing there. She had shoulder length beautiful orange hair, cerulean eyes, wearing a short sleeved turquoise dress that went down to her knees. Around her waist was a white pouch and on her hand was a diamond ring.

Misty apologized, "Sorry I'm late, sweetheart."

Ash got up and reassured, "It's fine, you didn't miss much."

Ash went over to Misty and kissed her gently, his fiancé. Serena went wide eyed as she realized what was going on. She smiled, happy for her oldest friend. Pikachu turned to Serena. Serena petted Pikachu. Ash's words dawned on her finally. She thought, _'Ash is right. You can't help who you fall in love with. You just hope that they are right for you. I hope I find someone that is kind like Michael. But Arceus only knows.'_

...

_Wishmaker1028: Thus ends this story! Sorry it is short but I rather like this rewrite. Anyways guys, please read and review! And always think outside of the box!_


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